


How to Be Human

by petermanspideyparker



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Absent Parents, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Michelle Jones, F/M, Hydra Created Peter, Hydra Peter Parker, Invincible Peter, Michelle Jones Needs a Hug, Peter Parker isn't Spider-Man, Protective Peter Parker, SHIELD Agent Michelle Jones, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-01-04 19:53:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 62,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21203159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petermanspideyparker/pseuds/petermanspideyparker
Summary: As Nick Fury's daughter, Michelle Jones has an incredibly abnormal life. With her parents leaving her on her own, and forcing her to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, MJ is sent to Los Angeles to gather intel on a new Hyrdra Agent - a man who appears to be invincible. It was meant to be a routine mission. But what she didn't plan on was that he would end up moving back to New York with her in no less than a week, and she would fall in love with him.





	1. Chapter 1

According to her neighbors, Michelle ‘MJ’ Jones lived a pretty normal life. She lived in a perfectly nice, rather large apartment which was full of books. She got straight A’s at one of the best high schools in all of New York City (with minimal effort), and her parents had incredibly prestigious jobs working for the government – although they were never seen around the building.

However, as far as her fellow classmates were concerned, MJ was anything but normal. At least by their standards. She always sat alone by her own volition, had absolutely no filter, making fun of teachers and students alike, had a particularly dark sense of humour, and skipped school more often than not.

Taking all her apparent fortune in life and admittedly odd personality traits into account, anyone would have seen it as insignificant in comparison to what she really spent her days doing.

MJ’s eyes shot open, raising out of bed immediately at six o’clock on the dot. Even though she didn’t have an alarm clock, it had become a habit over many years of training. She liked to keep her homelife to a very strict schedule, just as her father taught her to.

Standing to her feet, MJ stretched her arms out, moving them around as a series of loud cracks echoed all throughout her bedroom. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she would be ordered to go to school today. Unlike most S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, a sixteen-year-old had an extremely hectic schedule, trying to balance homework, Academic Decathlon, and working for Nick Fury and Maria Hill.

To add a whole other level of abnormality to MJ’s life, the two high-ranking agents happened to be her parents. For her ‘safety’ as they put it, they didn’t exactly live at the apartment with her. In fact, she’d lived on her own for quite some time, ever since Hydra had raided their old safehouse.

MJ usually loved being in solitude, but growing up without having parents directly involved in her life had taken its tole, despite seeing them at S.H.I.E.L.D. multiple times a week. Even the most withdrawn person in the world could grow lonely. And that included Michelle Jones.

She loved her mom and dad. She really did. But at the same time, MJ couldn’t help but hold a great deal of anger towards them after they pretty much abandoned her.

After completing her morning stretches, MJ dropped down onto the floor to begin her series of push-ups and sit-ups. Despite this all this training from a young age, she was still incredibly skinny, but could fight well. This was mostly due to her childhood lessons from Aunt Natasha.

It wasn’t exactly the best way for kids to bond with the adults in their lives. But to this day, she was grateful because of it, as it helped her to avoid getting killed during many missions over the years.

From across the room, MJ’s phone began to ring while resting on the nightstand, plugged into the wall. On the other end of course, was dad. Or ‘sir’ as she was only able to refer to him over phone calls. Being extremely paranoid, dad convinced himself that Hydra was listening in on everything.

With a roll of her eyes, she got up from off the floor, jogging towards her phone quickly and holding it up to her ear. Instead of speaking, MJ waited for him to utter the first words, unable to remember the last time they had a genuine conversation.

“I hear the roses are quite nice this time of year.” Fury said.

‘Always those stupid codes.’ She thought to herself.

“But I think the dahlias are so much better.”

At some point, MJ had become convinced that these little sentences meant that he actually knew something about her. The series of codes were made up of things that only she would say. But as she had come to realize, those were just silly facts about her. From when she was eleven, no less. Fury really didn’t know anything about his daughter now.

“I’m just calling to inform you that your original appointment for this morning has been canceled. There will be a vehicle waiting for you outside in half an hour. That will be all.”

“Okay.” MJ sighed. “I miss –”

Just like that, Fury hung up without giving it a second thought, leaving her standing alone in the darkness of her room.

Why did she even bother? If her parents really cared about her, they would live in the apartment with her. Not in some S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility that only God knew where it was. At times, it felt like they didn’t even acknowledge her existence. MJ missed them like crazy, but didn’t understand why.

With her face growing red with anger and breathing heavily, she violently threw her phone across the room, completely smashing the picture frame that was hanging on the wall. MJ made her way over to the frame, clearing away the shattered glass to gaze at the old photo.

She couldn’t have been more than seven at the time it was taken. A young-looking Fury was sitting down on his couch with an arm around Hill, along with MJ sitting down in between them. And all of them – by some miracle – were smiling. She couldn’t remember the last time it happened. Keeping the memory around was more like torture instead of bringing happiness.

Tossing it aside carelessly, not even giving a second thought when it hit the shared wall of her bedroom, MJ walked into the bathroom, turning the cold water on while proceeding to brush her teeth.

Another start to what would promise to be a horrible day. Unlike most kids her age, she loved going to school. The students may have been jerks, and the teachers were lazy assholes, but MJ would give anything for a normal life. Maybe even get a chance to stay in the library all day and read. Just for a single day.

***

With her hair still damp from the shower and an empty backpack slung over her shoulder, MJ stepped out of the apartment with her eyes glued to the floor. She slammed the door shut behind her, accidentally startling the woman who was already waiting for the elevator.

“Sorry, Mrs. Parker.” MJ apologized sheepishly, leaning against the wall awkwardly as she stared at the elevator doors.

“Bad day?” May asked.

It didn’t seem appropriate to complain. Especially not to her next-door neighbor. May had gone through some pretty rough times in the past couple months. Her husband, Ben had passed away. And that was after they’d found out they couldn’t have kids.

Still, after all that crap, May Parker remained the nicest person in the building. Possibly in all of New York, in MJ’s opinion. Their social interactions were somewhat limited though. One was a teenage loner, and the other was an outgoing, middle-aged woman. They were complete opposites. Not to mention that MJ’s interactions were limited to adults who were spies.

“Not yet.” She responded, giving a half smile with her curly hair covering one of her eyes. “But the day’s still young, I guess. What about you? Doing anything cool today?”

Ah, small talk. One of the few weaknesses of Michelle Jones. She didn’t know what it was. The way her voice came out during conversations like these sounded just like a robot. Possibly rude, even though she tried to come off as kind.

Fortunately, May never seemed to think of her as the weird girl of the building, instead talking as if it was a normal interaction between them.

“Cool?” She chuckled slightly. “Not even close. I have an early shift at the diner, then I’m volunteering at the F.E.A.S.T. Center.”

Stepping into the elevator, MJ had no idea what she was supposed to say next. If she continued, this would have gone from small talk to an actual conversation. And that would have been difficult to get out of. She was due at S.H.I.E.L.D. in half an hour. Fury and Hill never tolerated a thrown off schedule.

“If you want, you can stop by any time.” May offered. “The people there are really great, and Mr. Li would be glad to have you around.”

Clearing her throat, she nodded along, but unsure if it was actually a good idea to volunteer. MJ really didn’t want to say no. Her ‘job’ did present multiple problems however.

“I’d be happy to.” She fibbed. “I uh… gotta get to school now. I’ll see you around, Mrs. Parker.”

***

Sitting down in the pitch-black room, MJ was suddenly met with a bright light, almost blinding her. Shutting her eyes immediately and covering her face with her hands, a man dressed in black walked towards her, dropping a tablet down on the table and sitting across from her.

“Do you have to be that dramatic?” Fury asked, coming into focus as the lights began to die down.

“Says the man who got their eye scratched out by a fucking cat?” MJ clapped back, a smirk making its way onto her face. “Sound familiar, Mr. Last time I trusted someone I lost an eye?”

Her father, less than impressed, turned on the tablet which began to play a video.

“This footage was taken from the Fridge last night.” He began. “Hydra has a new player in the field.”

MJ turned her attention to the video, watching a series of agents taking aim at single individual. They fired bullets at him repeatedly, hitting him in all places from his masked head to his torso, but just kept walking towards them and remained unaffected. The bullets just bounced off him, practically shattering and falling to the floor in small fragments.

Giving almost no effort, he then picked up one of the agents, throwing them across the hallway and into the group. Due to the speed at which his victim flew, all the agents were without a doubt killed on impact, blood splattering all over the wall.

MJ clutched her stomach with one hand, feeling sick just by the sight of it. Agents kept charging at him, bringing forward heavier weapons with every attempt, but perished in the process.

What made this even more curious was that whoever was under that mask was wearing zero protection. He had no bulletproof vest, suit of armour like Iron Man, and was far from being the size of Bruce Banner in his Hulk form. On the contrary, he seemed to be short in stature. Even shorter than MJ herself, and didn’t appear to be extremely muscular underneath his skin-tight uniform.

MJ prided herself on being incredibly observant, but she couldn’t figure out anything about him from the footage. Not anything that made sense at least. When he walked, he stumbled on his toes as if he was a child learning how to walk for the first time. And when he killed, it was more of an instinct, just like a wild animal.

“Do you need a minute?” Fury asked.

“No, sir.” She responded immediately. “What do we have to go on?”

“Not much, I’m afraid. Agents Fitz and Simmons have confirmed that he’s not from the Centipede Program, and isn’t Inhuman. Whatever we’re dealing with, it’s something completely new. Coulson and his team have tracked him to a Hydra base in Los Angeles, and they’ll be acting as your handlers on this assignment. Your job is to observe. ONLY observe. Get us a sense of who or what he is, and if there’s a weakness we can exploit. And by no means are you able to be seen. If you’re compromised, Coulson has been authorized to extract you. Do you understand?”

MJ nodded along, finally looking directly into her father’s one good eye, but found no emotion in there. He didn’t even look happy to see her. Just the stern face of the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

“Yes, sir. So… now what?”

They were stuck in a metal box in a secure facility, where no one could even get to. Not even Hydra. If there was any place for him to act like a real father for once, this was it.

“Now…” He began, opening the door. “You get on the Bus. The team is waiting for you.”

MJ literally felt her heart harden, sinking down in her chest as if it had been turned into concrete. Was a simple hug too much to ask for? Maybe see her mother at the same time? Apparently, it was an impossible request.


	2. Chapter 2

MJ hated flying. She didn’t exactly know why, but it terrified her for as long as she could remember. So much so that just the thought of it made her feel sick to her stomach. Sometimes, MJ got the impression that Fury and Hill completely despised this aspect of her. When she was only seven-years-old, she refused to go through flight training, even though it was mandatory for all agents.

Her fears weren’t just limited to flying, but heights in general. As soon as she got on The Bus and muttered a quick and timid ‘hi’ to everyone on board, MJ took the last bunk that was available and proceeded to barricade herself inside.

Covering up the window and immersing herself in almost complete darkness, with the smallest spec of sunlight coming through the glass as the shutter was unable to close all the way, MJ stuck her earbuds into her phone and turning up the volume to the highest possible setting.

She didn’t even think about the potential damage it would do to her hearing. Music always helped her relax during trips like this. On rare occasions, it got to a point where she forgot where she was or what was happening.

Collapsing onto the bed, MJ pulled the fleece blanket over her head and curled up into a little ball. She sighed contently as her body began to grow warmer, starting to forget about how scared she truly was.

Fury and Hill told their daughter that fear was pointless. That it was a sign of weakness. But that didn’t change MJ, instead making her feel like a failure. They claimed all the ‘training’ she suffered through was going to toughen her up. Turn her into a real agent. Broken bones and nosebleeds from fighting, dislocating her thumbs daily, waterboarding to resist torture, and countless other horrors manifested themselves into hatred.

Not towards her parents however, but towards herself. MJ believed she wasn’t good enough to be considered the daughter of two high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents.

‘Mom and dad hate you.’ A voice in the back of her head mocked.

She tried to ignore it, but once the idea had resurfaced once again, it was too late. Negative thoughts were another problem MJ could never overcome, nor could she get rid of them for good. The moment they were born, they lingered forever.

At Midtown, she appeared confident in herself and never gave two fucks what people thought about her, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Every comment said not so quietly when her back was turned hurt more than any bullet ever did. One of those wounds healed, and could be tolerated.

Lacking a family, and even something as simple as friends sucked, no matter how cold and distant MJ acted. She had been dubbed the loner by her parents since the day she was born, and simply let it take hold of her life.

***

After what must have been hours, but felt like a couple of minutes, a knock on the outside of her bunk pulled MJ from her mid-day slumber. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she slid open the door of her bunk, coming face to face with Agent May.

MJ found herself connected to this woman immediately. May was a rather quiet person, and had a glare that would even cause The Hulk to tremble. But under all the frowning and serious personality, she was incredibly nice to MJ. Not treating her like an agent as Fury did, instead as a human being. A treatment MJ rarely received.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” She smirked, gesturing over her shoulder. “FitzSimmons need to see you down in the lab. We’re landing in five.”

Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she stood to her feet, slouching. Even though this was the case, the teenager towered over the older woman, almost appearing to be on stilts. Her height was something MJ was also pretty embarrassed of. When she was a kid, it never really bothered her. But as the years passed by, her fellow classmates became increasingly cruel.

MJ and May entered the lab to find Fitz and Simmons bickering over God knows what, each holding a massive gun over their heads.

“The Night-Night gun worked!” Fitz exclaimed. “And I don’t understand why these can’t go by the same name!”

“But I.C.E.R. is so much cooler!” Simmons said, a smile spreading to her face after realizing what just occurred.

“Did you plan that?” He asked, placing the gun down, smiling as well.

“Happy accident!”

MJ was quite surprised at first that she actually liked Fitz and Simmons. However, their personalities were complete opposites. They were always happy, and just loved being around people. On the other hand, she certainly got along with the young couple.

While MJ was far from their level of intelligence, she was fascinated by their type of science and many inventions. It was far more advanced than Midtown, obviously. Fitz and Simmons had practically ruined those classes for her.

“MJ!” They happily greeted in unison once they noticed her presence.

“Hey, guys… again. Sorry that I didn’t stick around earlier. I…”

“Oh, no. It’s quite alright.” Simmons reassured her. “I used to be terrified of flying too. I mean, you’re thousands of feet in the air in a metal can being thrown from once place to the… I’m not helping, am I?”

“Not so much, honey.” Fitz whispered, looking around the lab awkwardly. “Anyways…” He trailed off, making his way over to the Holotable.

With the press of a button, a holographic model of a Hydra facility appeared above the table. MJ found herself immediately underwhelmed. She’d never been sent to a place like this before, but the scale of it was incredibly small. In fact, it was even smaller than her apartment complex, and couldn’t have been more than a few stories tall.

MJ stifled a laugh, shaking her head.

“That’s it? This is going to be easy.”

Simmons waved her hand over the table, revealing that it was previously showing just the upper levels of the facility. Underneath all this were dozens of floors deep underground.

“We’re going to drop you off at about half a mile away from the facility to avoid detection.” May stated, highlighting a vent on the side of the building. “There’s only one place where you can enter that leads you to the lower levels. Once you’re inside, you can’t contact us.”

Fitz picked up a small wristwatch from his worktable, tossing it over to MJ. She looked down of the small screen to see something that resembled a compass, but it didn’t point north like it was supposed to. There was also a small sonar in the corner with three red dots on it, appearing to symbolize Fitz, Simmons and May.

“But you will have this little doohickey that Simmons and I whipped up. We uploaded the schematics of the facility, so you can know where you’re going. That sonar in the corner shows you how many heat signatures there are around you, and where they are.”

“It can also be used to intercept communications, and record conversations.” Simmons added. “Remember, you’re only there to observe. You come back at the end of the day, then repeat all over again. Are we clear?”

MJ placed the watch around her wrist, keeping her gaze down towards the ground.

“I got it.”

“And take one of the Night-Night guns with you just in case.” Fitz said.

“He means an I.C.E.R.” Simmons corrected.

***

“You’d better have a good reason for summoning us, Malick.” One of the Hydra Agents spat, crossing his arms while standing along with a group of men in suits. “Or is this going to be another one of your failed experiments?”

Gideon Malick – also known as The Last Head of Hydra – stood as straight as an arrow in front of the Agents with an expressionless face, playing along with the Hydra signet ring on his right hand.

“Experiments don’t fail.” He said in a monotone voice, appearing to be disgusted simply by standing in the same room as his inferiors. “The point of them is to learn, so we can improve. And I assure you, gentlemen, you will not be disappointed with the results.”

MJ crept through the vent as quiet as death, following Malick and the agents as the walked down the corridor on the very bottom floor. She had spent hours there, searching almost every room until she found The Last Head. Wherever he was going, it would no doubt provide valuable intel.

“As you all well know, the Winter Soldier program was a minor setback. But our scientists did their best work. Brainwashing is only a temporary solution. Even though we tried, we couldn’t wipe away the older memories that lingered deep inside his head. We assumed that it would be the first success. However, once a conscience is born and connections are made, those remain forever.”

MJ then dropped out from the vent, landing on the floor in the back corner of a room, hiding behind a wall of crates as they closed and locked the door behind them. She had a perfect view of the entire area, but was perfectly concealed. And no one had any business coming back there. MJ was safe… for now.

“Where are you going with this, Malick?” Another one of them asked, clearly disapproving.

At that exact moment, the wall came rolling down to show bulletproof glass separating the room in two. On one side, it was MJ and the agents. On the other, it was a lone man with his face covered while dressed in a skin-tight Hydra suit. The exact same one from the security footage. This was who she was looking for.

“I’m going to need a couple of volunteers.” He said, looking over them and pulling out the two who spoke against him. “How about you fine men?”

By the looks on their faces, they were hardly participating willingly. But as the massive oafs they probably were, they followed the orders to a T. With a gun placed in their hands and quickly put on the other side of the glass, they glanced back at Gideon, not knowing what was about to happen to them.

“Shoot it.” Gideon commanded.

MJ’s heart stopped, covering her mouth in order to keep sound from escaping. She knew what this guy could do. Malick was sentencing them to death, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

One looked down at the rifle, then back at the man. As he had clearly killed before, he raised the weapon without a second thought, aiming at his head and pulling the trigger.

The man just stood there, staring forward without a care in the world. At least not until the bullet hit the side of his head. The bullet shattered like glass just like in the security footage. And he went from a calm state, into one of anger.

Through almost pure instinct, he launched himself at both of the agents, moving so fast that MJ would have missed it if she blinked. Roaring in rage, he picked up the shooter with one hand, using him as a weapon to bash the other man.

The cracking of bones echoed throughout the entire room, complete with a mixture of blood splattering everywhere, sounds of horror coming from the others, and his roars.

MJ even struggled to keep herself composed, but her eyes remained locked onto this nightmare.

After a few moments, he ceased, huffing and puffing with anger. Gideon Malick smiled proudly at the others, laughing to himself slightly.

“Barnes made us believe that we couldn’t create weapons, but as you can see, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Isn’t it extraordinary? It took us about an entire year to build it, and now we have a living weapon who remains completely mindless. It only attacks in self-defence, of course. Drop it into a S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility, and the instincts do the rest.”

“Can you at least control him?” One spoke up, voice trembling.

“Only if IT remains without memories.” He corrected. “It gets wiped every day, then put on ice until we need it again.”

Two doctors came into the room, rolling along a chair and some device along with them, coming up to the ‘weapon’ apparently, trying to remain as passive as possible.

Pulling off his mask, MJ gazed into a pair of deep brown eyes, seeing that the person had the appearance of a teenager, but being no older than one year based on the conversation.

The first thing she noticed – much to her surprise – was that he was quite attractive. At least in her opinion. He was incredibly pale, probably due to wearing the mask constantly. His curly brown hair stuck to his sweat-covered forehead And of course, the other features were defined, from his muscles to his jawline.

The other thing MJ felt was anger. Despite what they called him; he was a person. A person being forced to do Hydra’s dirty work. Robbed from something as simple as memories. Deprived from a normal life.

Sitting him down in the chair, the doctors placed an object in his mouth and the device around his head, locking him in place with some cuffs around each of his wrists. The next thing that came nearly tore MJ apart.

The device activated, humming slightly, but was drowned out by the agonized cries coming from the young boy. He shut his eyes tightly, struggling violently and begging to be released. This continued on for what felt like an eternity, and MJ remained watching helplessly.

Fury had sent her there to collect information, but she had to do more. Regardless of his actions, this boy was innocent. He deserved to be set free.


	3. Chapter 3

“Tell me, Agent Jones…” Fury began sternly. “… what did I tell you your assignment was?”

MJ stared down at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with her father who was on the screen. With Coulson and May standing behind her, she at least felt some sort of support. It was a rather odd feeling when her superiors weren’t scolding her. But that’s what made her feel so comfortable on The Bus, instead of being back home in New York.

“Infiltrate the Hydra facility, gather intel on the new operative, and report back to the team.” MJ sighed. “And I was to –”

“To only OBSERVE!” Fury completed, placing his hands on his hips as his eye narrowed. “So, why on God’s green earth do you think this would turn into some kind of rescue mission?!”

MJ proceeded to brush her hair in front of her right eye, something she always did when she became nervous. It mostly occurred during school whenever people would start talking about her. Through some strange reasoning, it made her feel safer. Hiding herself from the world was like being at home.

“Because they’re holding him hostage, sir. I just think that we should do something about it. He needs someone to help him.”

“And why would it be us?!” He responded immediately. “This isn’t an actual boy we’re talking about! You said it yourself. Hydra cooked this thing up during some lab experiment, and it’s responsible for the deaths of dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents! We have no moral obligation to protect people who aren’t even alive, Jones. End of discussion.”

“Sir, if I may,” Coulson said. “it shouldn’t matter how he was created. The fact is that the boy has a life, and has a right to choose what he does with that life.”

Fury rolled his eye, glaring at the three of them and holding his finger over the ‘end call’ button.

“I’m pulling the plug on this assignment. Report back to New York tomorrow morning for debrief. That a direct order.”

And with that, the screen turned black, leaving MJ, Coulson and May sitting inside the office, not uttering a single word to one another for a couple of moments. That is, until May said exactly what they were all thinking.

“We’re not going to listen to him, are we?”

“Nope.” Coulson smirked, crossing his arms. “And that’s a direct order.”

***

As MJ quickly learned during her early missions with Coulson and the team, the plans they came up with were anything but reassuring. And they often ended up getting thrown out the window once they inevitably turned to hell.

However, working directly against Nick Fury didn’t provide much room for a large operation. They couldn’t use any resources other than the ones at their disposal. It wasn’t like The Bus had a ton of gadgets on board. And FitzSimmons could only do so much with what they’d been given.

Coulson had made the decision that she would be going in alone on the extraction part of the plan. For starters, and entire team of them – even with just Daisy by herself – would have drawn far too much attention, making escape almost impossible.

It was best to keep things as quiet and calm as possible. The boy only attacked when he felt threatened, so a raid was out of the question. Instead, MJ would get in, find the boy, get out, and just hope that no one would spot them. Hence the reason she felt the plan would end up going south. It didn’t sound very complicated, but there were so many holes and ‘what if’ scenarios to it, that she lost confidence in it before it even began.

But Michelle Jones was never one to back down from a challenge. And she didn’t hate the idea of pissing off her father.

“The communications will go down as soon as you get inside.” Coulson stated through her wristwatch as she crouched outside of the vent. “Good luck, Michelle.”

Laying down on the ground and sliding herself through the opening – which wasn’t difficult due to her slender frame – MJ immediately lost the signal she had with The Bus, leaving her completely alone.

She had a pretty good idea of where she was going. While they didn’t know where the boy was being held, Fitz and Simmons were able to narrow it down to a single area. First of all, it was the coldest place in the facility, which was ideal for putting him in cryogenic stasis. It also happened to be the most heavily guarded area, making escape all the more difficult.

Peeking her head out from the vent, seeing that she was inside the empty elevator shaft, MJ pulled out her grappling hook and attached it to the ceiling. Securely tying it to her belt, MJ began to descend towards the bottom floor while trying to keep as calm as possible.

When she was about halfway down, she realized that the cables began to move, a faint sound coming closer and closer by the second.

She turned as white as a sheet, looking down beneath her to see the elevator coming towards her with great speed.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” MJ cursed, detaching the grappling hook and dropping down on top of the elevator with a thud.

Knocking down the metal grate with a swift kick, she hopped down inside, coming face to face with two men wearing lab coats.

“Hi, guys.” She greeted casually, taking the I.C.E.R. from the holster on her belt quickly and shooting each of them to the ground.

MJ wouldn’t have had a problem killing either of them. She’d done it many times before, usually under less intense circumstances. However, the goal was to avoid drawing attention. And there was the small matter of hiding the bodies.  
With the push of a button, the elevator reversed direction, heading towards her location on the bottom floor. Looking down at her watch and scrolling through the facility map, MJ realized that there was a rather small closet near the opening of the elevator. Hopefully, no one would look inside.

***

MJ wasn’t sure if it was the fear of getting caught, or if she was getting stronger. But she made rather quick work of dragging the incapacitated scientists into the closet. For good measure, she fired a few extra rounds into their bodies, just so there was no chance of them waking up.

Pulling off one of their lab coats and a key card from around their necks, she slipped both of them on while putting on a pair of glasses, hoping that she would blend in by some miracle.

At the very least, no one would give her a second glance if she kept her gaze down towards the clipboard in her hands.

As MJ continued down the hallway, she decided to give the notes a quick read over. By some incredible coincidence, they were about the boy. A complete list of his powers, and how he was created. And it was incredible!

Enhanced senses, super strength, near invulnerability, speed and agility. Hydra had not yet figured out the limits of his powers though. While he had only been awake for a couple of weeks and created a couple of months ago, he had the physical age of a sixteen year old. The scientists weren’t even sure how they created him in the first place. From what MJ could decipher, the whole thing was a complete accident, and almost impossible to replicate.

She let out a sigh of relief once she read that last part. Hydra couldn’t create any more people to control now. And that meant that the boy was quite literally one of a kind.

Coming to an unmarked door with a dozen guards standing in the way – each holding a weapon which glowed a bright blue – MJ tried to look like she was wrapped up in her work. Holding out the key card and putting it to the scanner, the door slid open quickly, and they just let her pass through.

“Oh, thank God.” She muttered to herself once the door closed and locked behind her, effectively separating her from every other Hydra agent.

Thankfully, no one else was inside the room with her, but MJ felt a chill run down her spine as her breath became visible due to the extreme cold. Shivering, she placed the clipboard down on the ground, wrapping the thin coat tighter around her body in an attempt to get warm. Even the slightest bit of heat would have made her content.

Looking over the large room, MJ saw that there were tons of generators on the wall, all connected to one metal container in the dead centre. The glass was impossible to see through due to the ice covering it, but she knew who was inside of it.

The easy part of the mission was over. There was no way to get out other than the way she came in, and the guards would no doubt shoot at both of them the second they tried to run.

“O- one problem at a t- time, Michelle.” She told herself through her chattering teeth.

Pressing a button on the side of the container, the many latches fell to the ground which caused the front to swing open just like a door. MJ gazed down at the boy inside, seeing that he was laying down peacefully, breathing slowly like a newborn baby.

In a certain sense, he really was a newborn baby. He had no memories whatsoever, and the first ones would be of her and the horrible reality of where he was and what he was created to do. The very thought of it broke her heart.

MJ’s hand trembled slightly, raising to his face to admire the innocence that was about to be destroyed. The cheek was as cold as ice, but the pale skin was incredibly smooth to the touch.

She wished she could have left him to sleep a little while longer. And yet, at that very moment, his eyes fluttered open, staring directly at her with curiosity. MJ suddenly felt a smile spread to her face, trying not to scare him.

The boy raised up from the container and stumbled to his feet. It was just like watching Bambi walk for the first time, especially when he collapsed to the ground but caught himself at the last second.

“It’s okay.” She whispered in his ear, helping him stand up straight. “You’re alright. I’ve got you.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. She then remembered that he LITERALLY had no memories. Nor did anyone attempt to teach him something as basic as how to speak. He probably couldn’t understand what she just said to him.

“MJ.” She pointed to herself, hoping to help him speak for the first time. “MJ.”

The boy looked down at her hand, then back up at her, forming incoherent grunts and growls with his mouth. Raising his hand, copying her gesture and pressing a figure to her chest with a smile, he tried again.

“E- eeemmmmm jaayyyy.”


	4. Chapter 4

“E- eeemmmmm jaayyyy.”

She smiled back at the boy, nodding in response. MJ couldn’t really understand why she was so excited about something as simple as him saying her name for the first time. Albeit with extremely horrible pronunciation, exaggerated and rather loudly. But it just came off as kind of… sweet.

This wonderful feeling was short-lived, realizing that they still had their escape to worry about. Being buried underneath over thirty stories of dirt, trapped in a room that only had one exit, which happened heavily guarded by Hydra agents wouldn’t exactly help a person keep calm.

“Yeah. So… I’m MJ. And don’t worry. We’re going to get out of here… somehow.”

The boy’s brows furrowed, looking around the room in confusion. Instead of trying to understand her words like she would have thought, he appeared to be listening to something. Almost in a panicked like state, he flinched back and forth while breathing heavily. Grabbing MJ by the shoulders, he placed her behind him, shielding her with his body.

At that very second, the door blew open, and Hydra agents came poring though, surrounding the two of them with their guns aimed directly at their heads.

“We’ve spotted the intruder, sir.” One of them said into their comms. “She must have been the one to set off the alarm.”

“Good.” Malick’s voice came from the other end. “Make sure that you bring her in alive. And get the experiment back into containment.”

As the agents stepped forward, MJ reach for the gun (as the I.C.E.R. wouldn’t have been as effective) on her belt which was concealed by her lab coat. However, in the blink of an eye, the boy charged at the men, attacking each and every one of them in a blind rage.

Distracted by the boy, completely ignoring her, MJ kneed one of them in the crotch, pulling the trigger on her weapon and shooting him in the head, blood spattering out from the other end. She then kicked another to the ground, slitting his throat with the knife attached to her other boot.

Looking up, she saw that every other agent was on the ground, either groaning in pain, severely injured, or dead.

“Come on.” MJ said, grabbing onto his hand, leading him out of the room.

She knew that they couldn’t get out with the elevator. They had probably locked it down by now, along with the other obvious exits. But that was the last thing on her mind right now. The number one priority was staying away from the guards.

Holding up her watch and going through the schematics of the building, dozens of heat signatures were heading towards the two of them from all directions. In seconds, they would be surrounded just like before. No kinds of vents were close by to escape in, nor were there any closets to hide in.

All of a sudden, the boy stopped in his tracks and gazed up at the ceiling. Before she even knew what was happening, he leaped into the air, taking her with him. His body tore through the floors as if they were made out of paper, not suffering a single scratch and protecting MJ in the process.

She buried her face in his neck, shutting her eyes tightly. “It’s not like flying”, she told herself repeatedly. There shouldn’t have been anything to be afraid of. After all, they were underground, not up in the air. But it sure as hell felt like they were hundreds of feet in the air, moving like a bullet.

Finally, with her feet touching a surface, MJ let out a sigh of relief and released her grip from around the boy’s shoulders. They were now on the sixth sub-level, almost to the main floor. And with some luck, Hydra would need a couple of minutes to figure out where they were.

Another one of those super/terrifying jumps were out of the question. While he could easily get them outside in one go, there was no telling how many people would see them. Not to mention that any civilians nearby could see them. Covert was the only option they had.

Fortunately, the vents could be accessed from their current location. With a little help, of course.

MJ made her way over to the wall – followed closely by the boy – and made a punching gesture towards the tiles. He looked up at her in confusion, copying her movements and striking the wall with minimal effort. Although this was the case, his strength was enough to shatter the entire thing, exposing the ventilation system.

Hopefully, from here on out, their escape would be smooth sailing.

***

MJ and the boy exited the vents, crawling out onto the ground, brushing the dust and dirt off of themselves and standing to their feet. Out in the unguarded alley, she discarded the lab coat and glasses into a nearby dumpster, readjusting her clothes in an attempt to blend into the civilians among the regular buildings, just in case they were being followed.

Catching a glimpse of something bright red buried under the contents of the dumpster, MJ reached inside, pulling it out with one swift motion. Holding it up, she could now see that it was a rather worn-out hoodie. Other than the dirt, and somewhat foul smell, it appeared to be in pretty good condition.

She then realized that it was big enough to fit the boy, and could cover up the Hydra symbol on his chest. If they were to go out into the crowd, no one would give them a second glance. As she turned around to face him, MJ came to a stop, taken aback by the sight before her.

The Boy stared at his surroundings in disbelief, taking in these sights for the very first time in his life. The blue, partially orange sky, completely free of clouds. The sun that was beginning to set in the distance. Skyscrapers, trees, sidewalks, stores, even something as simple as the dumpster.

MJ found herself smiling at him once again, watching as he noticed a stray cat rubbing itself against his leg. Honestly, she could have done this all day. Just… observing him. For scientific purposes, of course.

“That’s a cat.” She said, walking up behind him and placing the hoodie around his shoulders. “You can say ‘cat’, right?”

The boy looked down at the animal and stepped away quickly, growling as he did so.

“You don’t like cats?” MJ asked, laughing slightly. “Yeah, me neither. Trust me on this one. Dogs are so much better.”

***

Getting back to The Bus was much more difficult than MJ anticipated. Not because they had to avoid Hydra. Because the boy would stop every five seconds to look at something new. She couldn’t blame him at all, but by the time they reunited with the team, the sun had already set, leaving them in the dark, crowded streets of Los Angeles.

While leaving the boy alone with Fitz and Simmons to be inspected, Coulson, May and Daisy had taken her up to the office, trying to make sure he wasn’t listening in on them. Although he couldn’t understand them, Coulson insisted upon it.

“So, Agent Jones,” He began, speaking more formal towards her than he normally did. “can you take it from here?”

She raised her eyebrows at the three adults in confusion, trying to figure out what they were talking about, but came up empty.

“W- why are you asking me?”

“We need to keep the kid off of Fury’s radar.” May stated. “And because this was your mission, he’s going to be moving into your safehouse.”

MJ’s eyes widened, a light blush spreading to her cheeks as she stood frozen in place. She wasn’t entirely sure if she had heard them right. But if she did, that meant she would be living with a boy! Living with another person! And she’d been alone for years now.

“L- living with me?” She stammered.

“We can’t keep him here.” Daisy said. “Fury would find out about him within a week. Your apartment isn’t on any of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s databases, and you said it yourself that he never visits. No one does. It’s the safest place for him.”

It wasn’t that MJ didn’t want to help out the boy. She would have been happy to. Maybe a little too happy. However, it would have been a large adjustment period. And the idea of it almost… scared her, in a way.

“Can’t we just find another safehouse for him?” She proposed.

“Nope.” Coulson responded. “He’s basically an infant at this point, and needs someone to teach him how to be human. Right now, that has to be you. FitzSimmons will drop by periodically to check up on his condition, and you can call is if you need help with anything.”

It had become fairly obvious that MJ had no say in the matter. And after all, they were right. If her parents found out about the boy, it would be like he was going back to Hydra. They exploited people for their own gain. She would just have to get used to the idea of living with someone.

“What if I have to go away on another mission?” MJ asked. “What am I supposed to do with him then?”

“Then you’d better make sure he’s housebroken by then.” Daisy joked.

***

MJ rubbed her eyes tiredly as she rode up in the elevator with the boy, keeping her gaze towards the ground. After all, she’d been awake for over twenty-four hours, and didn’t get a wink of sleep on the trip back to New York. Every time the smallest amount of light went into her eyes, her head immediately started pounding, almost causing her to collapse towards the ground.

Leaning a small portion of her weight on the boy to keep herself up straight, MJ was about to drift off into a slumber, but the quiet ding coming from the elevator came off as a screech in her sleep deprived state brought her back to reality.

Linking hands with the boy to lead him, the two stepped out of the elevator, heading towards MJ’s door.

“You’re getting home late.” May said, unlocking her own door and startling MJ in the process.

“Oh – uh – hi, May.” She greeted awkwardly, brushing her hair in front of her right eye. “Yeah, I just… had a lot of studying to do, you know?”

May gave her a knowing smile, eyes darting between her and the boy.

“I get it. So, is this your boyfriend?”

MJ was too exhausted to feel embarrassed, instead laughing to herself and shaking her head in response.

“Nope. We’re just hanging out.”

“Oh.” May said in surprise. “Well…be safe and use protection and all that.”

As it turned out, she wasn’t as exhausted as once believed. MJ’s mouth dropped open, a surge of energy making its way through her body and standing to attention.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. J- just no. We- we aren’t anything like… that, really. He’s just new in town, and I’m showing him around.”

“Right.” She looked at the ground, just as embarrassed as MJ was. “Sorry about that. So, uh… what’s your name?”

The boy opened his mouth, attempting to speak (although the only word he could say was ‘MJ’), but MJ beat him to the punch.

“Peter!” She blurted out randomly. “H- his name is Peter. And he doesn’t speak much English, cause he’s from… out of town.”

She wasn’t entirely sure why she came up with that name. She always liked the name ‘Peter’, but never had any reason to. Regardless, from here on out, the boy would be referred to as ‘Peter’.

MJ then unlocked her door, practically shoving Peter inside to make sure her neighbour didn’t ask too many revealing questions.

“It was nice to meet you, Peter.” May waved goodbye, smiling at him as she began to enter her own apartment.

“It…” He began in a hoarse voice, clearing his throat with a series of animalistic growls. “It was good to meet you.”


	5. Chapter 5

In a panic, MJ grabbed Peter by the shoulder, practically throwing him into her apartment with all her might, slamming the door shut behind the two of them. Locking it securely and activating the S.H.I.E.L.D. Security System, she turned to him with her mouth dropped. In return, he was simply staring at her. She had found that he did that more often than not, almost as if his eyes were glued to her.

“You can talk?” MJ asked simply, no longer meeting his gaze.

Peter nodded along, hands stuffed into the pockets of his red hoodie, face hardly visible in the darkness of the apartment.

“I- I know some things.” He said, slightly more coherent than the first time he spoke. MJ could faintly pick up the New York accent he must have picked up. But there was also a hint of a British/Scottish accent, probably due to Fitz and Simmons. “I listened to you talk a lot. You are really smart.”

It had been a long time since someone had said something nice about her, let alone her intellect. Fighting a smile off of her face and masking it with a scowl, MJ realized that Peter must have been developing faster than anticipated. Even though Hydra intended for him to remain a thoughtless animal, there was clearly potential for some kind of intelligence.

“Okay.” MJ breathed out, brushing past him to turn on the lights, keeping it rather dim. “Well, uh… I guess I’ll have to teach you some English, then. Later, though. In the mean time, we’d better get some sleep.”

She once again grabbed his hand, leading him to the back hallway of the apartment where the bedrooms were. Her dad – or sir, as she only thought of him now – made sure to completely furnish the safehouse, just in case people came around. It was necessary to keep the impression her parents were loving and involved in her life. To this day they had gone completely unused. Until now, at least.

Coming to the room just across from hers, MJ opened the door, bringing him inside. Peter’s eyes darted in all directions, sniffing curiously just as a puppy would have done. His instincts appeared to be pretty close to that of an animal. Peter probably knew how to sleep, look for food, and hopefully go to the bathroom. Fortunately, there was one just attached to his room. It could also be accessed from her room.

“If you need to go to the bathroom, it’s just over there.” She gestured to the door across the room. “I’ll be right back. I think I’ve got some old pajamas that would fit you. So, just change out of your clothes, I guess.”

MJ made her way across the hall, beginning to rummage through the very back of her closet. Without having her parents around, she never had to worry about keeping her room clean. Tossing clothes upon clothes over her shoulder, MJ held up an old sweatshirt, holding it to her face and inhaling deeply.

She shrugged, placing it on her bed. It could have been in better condition. Not to mention that the smell was somewhat off, but Peter didn’t seem to be the type to get offended easily. After all, he’d been clinging to that filthy hoodie ever since she found it.

Coming up with a pair of her sweatpants, MJ gathered the clothes in hand, heading back towards the other bedroom. As the door was partially closed, she held her eye up close to the opening.

MJ stopped herself from entering as she saw the red hoodie was tossed onto the floor along with his old Hydra uniform. She knew she should have looked away. At the very least she should have knocked. But slowly, unable to resist the idea that entered her head, MJ’s gaze travelled up from the floor, falling onto Peter’s naked features.

Her blushed furiously as she stared at his rather firm looking, incredibly alluring ass. MJ knew it was wrong to look. However, she just couldn’t stop. Having never seen a boy in a state of undress before, she was both filled with curiosity, and actually… hormonal.

MJ’s breath quickened as Peter turned slightly, not spotting her and unknowingly giving her a full view of his front. Even though she was able to see the muscles underneath the suit, they were far bigger and far more defined than she had ever thought possible.

Then there was his… thing. While it wasn’t even erect, it was still…

MJ pulled away from the door, leaning against the wall and staring at her reflection in the glass of one of the picture frames. She honestly couldn’t believe what she just did, and it was too late to take it back. MJ was supposed to be better than that. Through her entire life, she never thought she’d be the kind of girl to actually stare at a boy. And an unclothed boy at that.

Recomposing herself, MJ covered her eyes with one hand, opening the door, holding out the change of clothes to Peter. All she had to do was pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary. It shouldn’t have been too hard for a spy. If she’d been able to kill people, this wasn’t going to be a challenge.

“H- here.” She stammered. “Put these on. I- I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thank you, MJ.” He said with the innocence of a child.

MJ then hurried out of the bedroom, closing the door all the way behind her this time and barricading herself in her own room. Kicking off her boots, MJ started to strip down to her underwear as she was too lazy to change into pajamas. And for obvious reasons, she was feeling a little too warm at the moment.

She felt as if she was boiling alive at this point. With sweat dripping down her forehead and her heartbeat increasing, MJ collapsed down onto her bed, completely neglecting the blanket and simply resting her head on the pillow. Looking at Peter like that without his permission was horrible. But what was even worse was that she didn’t want to take it back.

***

Whenever MJ got back from a mission – especially one in a different time zone – her body clock was completely thrown off. Instead of waking up at the usual six o’clock in the morning, completely energized and ready for her stretches, MJ weakly opened her eyes, remaining motionless.

Years had passed since she had slept in. So much so that she completely forgot what it was like. But this morning, it all came rushing back to her. No matter how much sleep a person got, they always woke up exhausted.

Groaning, shifting her head to face the clock on her bedside table, MJ saw that it was already seven thirty in the morning, a full hour and a half off of schedule.

Finding herself in the exact same position as before, and feeling no less guilty, she managed to push herself up, sitting on the edge of her bed and rubbing her eyes tiredly. Running a single hand through her messy curls and readjusting her bra strap that had come off her shoulder slightly, MJ stumbled to her feet, grabbing a large hoodie from the pile on the floor.

Sliding it over her head, covering up her entire torso and a portion of her legs, she marched out of her room, prepared to look Peter in the eye, and nowhere else for that matter.

Oddly enough, his bedroom door was already wide open. MJ raised her eyebrows curiously, sticking her head inside to find that Peter was gone. The bed was perfectly made, and the sweatshirt and Hydra uniform were folded and placed onto the ground.

“Shit.” She cursed under her breath, running out from the hallway and into the living room. “Peter?!”

“Hey, MJ!” He greeted happily, sitting at the dinner table across from May, stilling wearing the red hoodie.

Since she was asleep, the security system didn’t notify her of any entries or exists. MJ was now forced to have to talk to her neighbour and Peter, while she happened to be half-naked, technically.

“Hi.” She responded, pulling the hoodie down further in order to cover up more of her legs. “What are you, uh… what are you doing here?”

Peter held up a dictionary in his head, beaming proudly.

“I wanted to check out the building and ran into Aunt May. She offered to help me with my English.”

“Aunt May?” MJ asked, not understanding.

“That’s not right, is it?” He turned to May. “Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” She smiled. “You can call me Aunt May if you want. He’s a really fast learner. But he’s going to have to work on a few things.”

May stood up from the table grabbing her purse from off the ground, waving to the two of them as she made her way towards the door.

“I have to get to work now, but I had some extra breakfast left over, so I left some for the two of you on the counter. And I saw that you didn’t have a lot of food in your fridge, so I made you a few sandwiches for lunch. I’ll see you two later.”

As soon as the door closed behind May, MJ glanced into the kitchen to see that two plates had been prepared for herself and Peter, along with two glasses of orange juice. It had been a long time since someone had made her a meal as well. Her diet pretty much consisted of tea, bread, and whatever was cheap in the stores.

Reluctantly, MJ took a quick whiff of the food, her stomach growling as she did so. She didn’t know why she was hesitating. But people were never this nice to her. It was just strange. Her hunger taking over her unnecessary hesitancy, MJ picked up both plates, balancing the glasses as well, making her way towards the dinner table slowly and placing them down.

“So…” She began, sitting across from Peter, tucking her hair behind both ears. “… what kind of stuff did you tell her?”

Even though he probably didn’t have a clue what he’d been through in his first day of memories, she couldn’t take any chances. Peter had not only seen Hydra, but S.H.I.E.L.D. as well. Bringing May into this would mean nothing but trouble.

“I didn’t know how to say much.” He said in return, keeping his attention more focused on the food rather than the conversation. “I don’t know what I could have told her.”

Peter proceeded to bury his face in the eggs, eating them like a starving animal. MJ stifled a laugh, keeping her eyes glued to him. It was oddly adorable seeing him like this. Even though part of her wanted to join him, she chose to use a fork like a normal person.

“Do you know where you come from?” MJ asked, causing him to look up, pieces of scrambled egg on his nose.

“I can’t remember.” Peter practically whispered. “I remember you… and there were people who wanted to hurt you… but that’s it. W- where do I come from? Why can I do the things I do? Why can’t I remember anything? Who are you, even?”

She knew she couldn’t have lied to him. But it wasn’t like the truth would have been easy. With any other person, MJ liked to be as direct and honest as possible, not caring whether or not they were hurt in the process. Peter was different though. He didn’t deserve to get hurt.

“It’s complicated.” She exhaled, looking down in her lap. “You… don’t come from anywhere.”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, appearing as if he’d just received a punch in the gut.

“I don’t understand. D- don’t I have a family? I’m not alone, am I?”

“You aren’t alone, Peter. I can’t really explain all of it to you now, but you can trust me. I’m… I’m here to help, and I’m not going to leave you.”

Staring aimlessly, he pursed his lips to stop them from quivering. Peter was just a child who had lost something he never even had. With only a few sentences, MJ had completely destroyed what hopes he may have already had about a normal life.

“Y- you promise?” He stammered.

She reached across the table, brushing her hand across his, linking their fingers together and grasping it slightly. MJ wasn’t sure how to comfort someone, but she still wanted to help him in whatever way possible. She at least owed him that much.

“I promise.”


	6. Chapter 6

As MJ walked down the sidewalk of downtown New York along with Peter by her side, she couldn't help but feel guilty about the mood she had put him in. Unlike Los Angeles, he didn't take in his surroundings in awe, or point excitedly at every building he saw, not even stop to try and talk to stray animals.

Instead, Peter came off as miserable, staring down at the ground with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his hoodie. MJ knew it would have been wrong to lie to him about his origins, but at least he would have been happy like before. He would have had that bright smile plastered to his face.

Now, Peter believed that he was all alone. Left in the world without a family. No siblings he could spend his days with, or parents that could take care of him at the end of the day. MJ knew exactly how he felt, having distant parents and all that. And if that wasn't enough, the reality of what he was and what he was created to do probably hurt more than anything else.

MJ couldn't get the image out of her head. Just the way his face fell in horror when she told him everything about Hydra. All the things they did to him. All the things they forced him to do. All the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents he had slaughtered. It was as if the light that once resided behind his eyes had completely faded, the innocence replaced with guilt.

He had every right to feel angry. She would have felt the exact same way if she was in his position. Peter still had the maturity and mental state of an infant, but he was also taking in information faster than he could process. It must have been excruciating for him, not being able to understand things.

Not to mention that his base instincts were animalistic. Hydra made sure that the first thing he would resort to was to kill, to inflict violence upon people. But he didn’t want to hurt anyone anymore. Since Peter was basically a child, the only way of dealing with his problems was pouting. Burying them down deep inside and letting them tear him apart.

"Am I a bad person?" He asked out of the blue as they came to a stop at the crosswalk, standing in a sea of other people going about their October Sunday.

"Of course not!" She responded immediately - and a little too loudly - receiving a series of annoyed glances from the people gathered around them. "N- no, Peter. How do I explain this? Uh... there's a word called responsibility. Did Aunt May teach you that word?"

Peter nodded along, meeting her gaze for the first time since her confession, although it came with a frown.

"With great power comes great responsibility. She told me her husband; Ben used to say that a lot. But what does that have to do with me?"

"Well..." MJ looked around the area, keeping her voice low so no one else would hear her this time. "Hydra basically had you under their control, so you weren't responsible for your actions. It doesn't mean you’re a bad person, because it wasn't really you, and you're not what they made you to be. Now, you just... you can decide what kind of person you want to be. You can be a normal person. A good person."

"But how am I supposed to be norm..." He trailed off, standing to attention suddenly, gritting his teeth together while making his hands into fists.

MJ's brows furrowed, looking off into the same direction as he was to see a woman handing her purse over to a man in a ski mask. He was holding an old revolver to her head, causing her to pale in fear. The criminal snatched the purse from her hand and slung the strap over his shoulder, hitting the woman over the head with the barrel, knocking her to the ground with blood beginning to pour out of the wound. He then started running off, already a few blocks away from the two of them.

Before MJ could fully react, not even touching the I.C.E.R. which was concealed on her person, what seemed to be a large gust of wind hit the entire crowd, sending all of them to the ground. Peter was gone in the blink of an eye, and only to marks of burned rubber on the sidewalk remained in his place.

MJ sat up with a groan and cleared the curly hair away from her eyes, brushing the dirt off of her jeans and standing to her feet. Squinting off into the distance, she could now see that Peter was holding the mugger by the neck, his feet dangling in the air as he gasped repeatedly, trying to punch himself free. This of course had no affect of Peter.

She then sprinted over towards him, clicking the pen which resided her pocket quickly in order to disable everyone's phones. There was no telling what kind of chaos would occur if this whole scene made its way on social media. MJ wasn't sure what she was afraid of most: Hydra finding out where Peter was, or her father finding out she set him free.

Carrying the man in the mask around as if he was a doll, Peter made his way over to the injured woman while picking up the purse, paying no attention to the people around him, whose expressions ranged from astonishment to fear.

“Peter!” MJ hissed, pulling her hood up in an attempt to hide her face. “You have to let him go!”

The mugger was immediately released from his grip, falling down to his knees and coughing violently while clutching onto his neck which already had bruises left behind due to Peter’s strength.

It wasn’t like MJ wanted to let him go, but they didn’t have much of a choice. If they stuck around any longer, cops would eventually show up, and they’d possibly come off as threatening to Peter. Not to mention that a few dozen people had already caught a glimpse of their faces. The last thing they needed was a bigger crowd. Leaving the criminal was a tough decision, but a necessary one.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked the woman, handing the purse back to her.

Before her answer came, MJ took him by the hand (something she realized she did an awful lot of in their two days together) and began leading him towards a nearby alleyway, hoping that they would stay hidden there for the time being.

“D- did I do something wrong?” He stumbled over his words. “Why… why were all those people afraid of me?”

Explaining this kind of thing would be difficult. She made it clear that he was far from normal, but Peter still didn’t know the extent of it. Nor did he realize the rules that came with having superpowers. MJ could tell just by the look on his face that he was worried, maybe even a little bit scared. Peter’s brows were raised slightly, breathing quickly with his chest heaving.

“You know how you were asking what it means to be normal?” MJ asked, waiting for his response which came in the form of a nod. “You can do things that other people can’t, and people are always afraid about things they can’t understand. But if you really want to have a life in this city, you’re going to have to keep your powers secret from other people. It’ll be alright as long as you make sure no one sees you… which should actually be pretty easy. I didn’t even see you move back there.”

“I don’t understand!” Peter whined. “How am I supposed to know what to do? How do you know so much about this?”

“School, I guess.”

After she uttered those three little words, she couldn’t get the newly formed idea out of her head. By no means was it her best, and yet MJ couldn’t fight the grin making its way onto her face. From her perspective, there was no downside. Peter would be able to experience the normality he wanted, and she could keep a close eye on him during all hours of the day.

“School.” MJ said once again, pulling out her phone and dialing Fitz and Simmons. “All we have to do is enroll you in my school!”

“What’s a school?”

“Hell.”

One of the few aspects of being a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent that MJ liked was getting to spend time with the team on the Bus. They were quite possibly the only adults she knew that didn’t treat her like an immature teenager. But even though she’d spent years together, asking for their help disobeying more of her father’s rules was a rather tall order.

“Hello?” Fitz and Simmons answered in unison on the other end of the phone.

“How would you guys like to be parents?”


	7. Chapter 7

"Good afternoon." The man on the other side of the desk greeted Fitz, Simmons, and Peter. He had a hint of a smile on his face, but Peter immediately got the sense this wasn't a man to mess with. "My name is Jim Morita, and I'm the principal here at the Midtown School of Science and Technology. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs..."

"Parker." Simmons finished for him, adjusting her glasses as she did so. "I'm Mary, this is husband, Richard, and of course our son, Peter."

Morita's eyes locked onto the young boy, looking him up and down as if he was a machine scanning him. Peter sat there motionless; his hands perfectly folded in his lap while trying to remain as obedient as possible. The last thing he needed was to stand out in this place, and MJ told him that the best way to blend in was to keep your head down and do whatever the teachers say.

"Please forgive me, Mr. and Mrs. Parker," The principal said, glancing between the three of them. "but aren't you both a little bit young to have a sixteen-year-old son?"

"W- well, uh..." Fitz stammered. "we had Peter when we were very young."

"And we're older than we look." Simmons added quickly.

"And we're older than we look." He agreed.

Morita shrugged it off, appearing to take their answer and not giving it a second thought. At least Fitz and Simmons were using American accents, otherwise he might have pressed on further.

"Very well, then." Morita nodded, pulling out a file from his desk, putting on his own pair of glasses to read out the contents. "Now, let's take a look at your transcripts, shall we? Peter Benjamin Parker, last attended Kansas City High School... and you were a straight A student there. Very impressive, Mr. Parker."

Peter flashed him a quick smile, although he had no idea what straight A's even meant.

"Ah, I see you were a member of your schools Academic Decathlon team. That's one of Midtown's most successful programs. It's a little later into the year, but I'm sure our captain could find a place for you if you want to join. Anyway, we've sorted out your schedule," He said, passing over a small piece of paper to Peter. "and with your grades, we believe you should have no problem catching up in your classes. Welcome to Midtown Tech, Mr. Parker. Now please, get some rest. I expect to see you in class at eight thirty on the dot. Try not to be late."

***

As it turned out, everyone had to attend school at some point in their lives. MJ made it perfectly clear that no one was supposed to enjoy it though. She actually described it as 'a shithole where everyone is only out for themselves and the teachers are the laziest human beings to walk this miserable earth' to use her exact words.

Although this was the case, Peter sat up in his room across from MJ's with a pile of books scattered all over the bed, flipping through each and every one of them quickly in an attempt to take in as much information as he could.

His new friend was kind enough to lend him as many books she could find, ranging from school textbooks to fiction to some weird kind of stories called Shakespeare. Aunt May also gave him the dictionary from earlier as well as some history books and an old Bible.

The truth was that the idea of experiencing a normal life excited Peter. Even the prospect of having 'parents' made him happy, despite the fact Fitz and Simmons were just filling in the essential role.

MJ, along with the people from S.H.I.E.L.D. had already organized everything he needed in order for him to attend school with her. They provided the transcripts from his old school, a birth certificate for one 'Peter Benjamin Parker', a driver's licence (whatever that was), and even a few photographs of his 'previous life' in case anyone asked.

To go along with these formalities, Peter had been gifted some normal clothes from MJ, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, and even Aunt May. Apparently, he was roughly the same size as her late husband. She even mentioned that he somewhat resembled Ben. Because of this, he wanted to choose the names 'Benjamin' and 'Parker' when the time came.

With his new clothes folded up in a pile on the floor and an old backpack on the chair of the desk, he glanced over towards the window, staring at the bright lights of the city.

There was a word Aunt May had taught him, something that perfectly described the appearance of the buildings lighting up the area for miles, and the large neon blue 'A' standing out on the tallest tower. It was without a doubt the most beautiful sight Peter had seen in his incredibly short life.

As far as the world was concerned, he was completely normal. He didn't have to be known as a simple experiment anymore. He was no longer an object owned by Hydra, or a weapon used against innocent people. Peter Parker was just like everybody else.

***

Just as always, MJ's eyes shot open, raising out of bed immediately at six o'clock on the dot without any aid from an alarm clock. A small smirk forced its way onto her face, pleased with herself now that she was able to get back onto her incredibly strict schedule.

Standing to her feet, MJ stretched her arms out, moving them around as a series of loud cracks echoed all throughout her bedroom. On any other day, she would have been wondering if her parents would order her in to work today. But today was not one of those days.

MJ had far more pressing matters to attend to. Specifically involving the boy who was currently fast asleep in the bedroom across the hallway.

After completing her morning stretches, MJ dropped down onto the floor to begin her series of push-ups and sit-ups. Even though she was back on her schedule, something still felt off about this morning.

She didn't know if she was happy to finally have a real friend join her at school, or if she was afraid of having Peter lose control and expose himself to the world. Either way, it was her plan. She would be the one to deal with the outcome, whether it was positive or negative.

Peter wasn't normal, and no matter how much he wanted to change, he just wouldn't be able to. His powers were a part of his base instincts. He almost used them without thinking. Now, he was being thrown into a place as chaotic as school. People would be looking at him differently than others, and he wouldn't be able to understand them either.

Right on cue, MJ's phone began to ring while resting on her nightstand while plugged into the wall. Without a doubt, her father was on the other end with some riddle prepared in order to confirm her identity.

Groaning, she got up off the floor and grabbed her phone, holding it up to her ear while trying to keep her worry hidden from Fury.

"It can't be seen, can't be felt, can't be heard and can't be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life and kills laughter."

"Darkness." She answered without skipping a beat.

As a child, MJ used to be afraid of the dark. So much so that she resorted to sleeping in her parents' bed to feel safe. It was one of the last times she felt like she was part of a real family. But then they just... stopped. Stopped caring for her, listening to her, helping her. On that day, she was forced to look out for herself.

"I'm just calling to inform you that your original appointment for this morning will be proceeding as planned. You'll receive another call in twenty-four hours. That will be all."

"Yes, sir." MJ nodded, hanging up before Fury and tossing her phone onto the bed.

She actually felt a little proud of herself. Her so called father did the same thing to her constantly, making sure he was the one to get the last word, cutting her off on every phone call. Hopefully, he didn't appreciate the taste of his own medicine.

"Hey, Peter" she called out, making her way across the hallway. "you up yet? Come on. We need to get ready for... school."

Stopping in her tracks, standing in Peter's doorway, MJ saw Peter was already dressed, bouncing up and down on his feet excitedly with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

Much to her surprise, he actually looked normal. Like he could blend in with everyone else at Midtown. MJ could see that Peter was wearing a white t-shirt underneath a dark blue flannel, the sleeves rolled up at the forearms.

His jeans were a little worn out, and the sneakers he had on were far from new. But Peter had a bright smile on his face, appearing happier than she'd ever seen him before. And MJ wasn't blind. He looked... good. Red and blue were definitely his colours.

"Morning, MJ!" He greeted.

"Um... h- hey. Sorry, I uh... I thought you'd be sleeping now."

"Oh, I didn't sleep." Peter said casually. "I was too excited. And I already made breakfast for the two of us. I found a few cookbooks in the cupboards and borrowed a few things from the fridge. I hope that's alright with you."

MJ took a moment to inhale, finally noticing the smell originating from near the kitchen. That was only the second time in which there was a proper meal on the small circular table in the apartment. She would have recognized the aroma anywhere.

"Pancakes." She breathed quietly. "My dad used to make those for me and my mom when I was little. He would... he'd do it every Saturday morning... said Grandma Fury taught him how."

"Your dad sounds like a really nice guy." Peter observed, causing her smile to fall.

"He's not." MJ practically growled, turning back on her heels, heading towards the bathroom to take a shower and leaving Peter alone in the room. "I don't think he ever was." She whispered to herself.

Accidentally slamming the door shut behind her, MJ reached behind the curtain, turning the handle until warm water began pouring out of the showerhead and drowning out all sound in the bathroom.

Fumbling with her clothes, she glared at herself in the mirror.

Why did she have to sound so angry with him?! He didn't know about her family! All he wanted to do was help out, do something nice for her. That was a lot more than Fury or Hill had done for her in recent years. And yet the moment Peter vaguely mentions her dad, MJ turned on him as if he did something wrong.

With her clothes now discarded onto the floor, MJ's eyes ran up and down her naked body, taking in the details as if she was seeing them for the first time. The scar that ran up the middle of her stomach from her very first mission. The bullet holes scattered all across her shoulders. The mark that still remained on her right breast where Taskmaster shot his arrow.

Turning around to observe the back, she was met with more shock, mouth dropping down slightly at the great number of bullets taken over the years. The second-degree burns on her lower back were the result of a training exercise where Fury personally went up against her. He didn't even apologize afterwards

Stepping into the shower with tears running down her face, joining the stream of warm water which was now causing steam to fill the room, MJ pressed her head against the wall in order to keep herself standing up straight.

If there was anyone she should have been angry at, it was her parents, not Peter. Years of humiliation, pain, torture, and abuse were suffered thanks to them, and they still remained cold and distant. They'd broken her. Why else would she refuse a true gesture of kindness? Coming from her only friend, no doubt.

MJ sunk down to her knees, wrapping her own arms around her torso and grabbing her arms as her tears turned into a full-blown sob, gasping for air underneath the water.

***

Peter sunk to the floor, leaning against the wall just outside the closed bathroom door, watching his friend cry to herself. He wanted to go in and help her, he wanted nothing more. But Peter couldn't bring himself to do it. She was hurting, and he just couldn't understand what he did wrong.

With a quick blink, his vision went back to normal, no longer able to see through the wall, although her sobs were still completely audible, echoing through his ears, tearing him apart on the inside.

"I'm sorry, MJ." Peter whispered under his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike my other fics, I'm trying to go a little bit slower with this one, but I do have all the chapters planned out. Because I'm planning a large shift in tone with the story, I'll be breaking it up into different fics, and I hope you like where it's going. I know I'm going to love getting to the last chapter of this first one and getting to write it! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, and happy new year!


	8. Chapter 8

"Get out of the way, asshole."

"Excuse you."

"Don't you watch where you're going?"

Those were just a few examples of the phrases Peter was met with as he made his way through the chaotic halls of Midtown for the third time. He had to be doing something to wrong these people, although it was never his intention to provoke them.

It must have been the effect he had on people. Everyone Peter had interacted with up to this point in his life seemed to either hate him or be afraid of him. Even MJ - his only friend in the world - probably hated him by now. She was upset because of what he did to her, whatever it was.

Peter pondered on the question for ages, listening to her sobs from the shower and looking through the wall periodically, but came up with no answer to the question.

Deciding that he was the last person she wanted to see when she finally emerged, Peter simply left the apartment to head to school without her. With his head down in shame, he tried his best to navigate through the halls, but found himself lost instead without his guide - hence the reason he'd been going back and forth.

Despite this problem, Peter wouldn't have changed his mind about leaving her. He'd hurt her, and he deserved every bad thing that was coming his way. He expected that MJ never wanted to speak to him again after this, and certainly didn't blame her.

Just a short while ago, Peter had opened his eyes to look at a friend for the first time. Someone who didn't want to use him as a weapon, but to help him, and he managed to ruin everything. MJ had given him a life, and in return, he made her cry.

Only a monster would have done that.

But back to the matter at hand. Peter was in the midst of a maze known as Midtown School of Science and Technology, and finding his way to his first class could be described as nothing except an impossible task.

His first instinct was to use his powers, then he could have sped through the halls instantaneously, finding room three-forty-four in no time. But alas, MJ made it very clear that his abilities were off limits when he was out in public, and the last thing Peter wanted to do was go against her wishes.

Midtown was an incredibly strange place, far different than he thought it would be. Although the building was much larger than the apartment, freedom was something he found lacking in the halls. Other than the mass of people, there were these large things called lockers nearly taking up half the halls.

They seemed like they went on and on, no end in sight. People leaning up against them, gathered into their little groups that Peter was most certainly not welcome to join. He wanted to be a part of something, to be like the people he was surrounded by rather than face the reality of his purpose in life.

A hand on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts, coming to a stop in the middle of the hall. Turning around quickly, hoping to see MJ on the other end, Peter immediately deflated, coming face to face with two strangers.

The boy was slightly taller than he was, taller than MJ in fact. Whoever he was, he had a round face with dark skin and black hair. Everything about him could only be described as large. His hands and feet were probably twice the size of Peter's, and his smile spread across his face. Peter wasn't sure what to think of him, but unlike everyone else he'd run into, he seemed kind.

The other - the girl - was pretty much the polar opposite of the boy she stood beside. Instead of being tall and a mixture of plump and somewhat muscular, she was short and scrawny. Contrary to his hair and skin, she was a blonde, having a pale freckled face, especially along her nose. She probably only came up to his chest, even though she was wearing heels as opposed to his flat running shoes.

"Are you okay, dude?" He asked with concern in his voice.

Peter didn't know how to answer, instead glancing between the two of them, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Are you lost?" The girl pressed on. "We kept seeing you coming around the halls so we thought we'd help you out. You know... unless we're bothering you, then we can get out of your hair."

Peter blinked quickly, shaking his head in response in an attempt to get back to the moment.

"N- no." He stammered. "Sorry, I uh... I am lost."

"Oh, you're the new guy!" The boy exclaimed happily. "Principal Morita told us about you! Don't worry about it, basically everyone gets lost once or twice in the first few days. Hell, this is our third year here and I still can't figure out how to get to Decathlon meetings. I'm surprised the captain hasn't killed me yet."

"I wish I could say Ned's joking. She's kind of... tightly wound. I'm Betty, by the way, and this is my boyfriend, Ned."

Betty and Ned. Peter found himself smiling back at the two of them uncontrollably. They weren't afraid of him. They didn't hate him, but were instead offering to help him without expecting anything in return. He could have taken the people who'd been kind to him in his life and counted them with both hands and still have fingers left over.

Peter couldn't understand what was happening, but he was determined not to destroy this potential friendship like the previous one.

"It's nice to meet you. So, do you guys know how to get to room three-forty-four?"

"What are the odds?" Ned laughed. "We have the same homeroom as you! Come on, you can sit near us if you want."

***

By the time MJ arrived at school, everyone else was nearly halfway through first period. On any other day she would have been ecstatic when she was presented with an opportunity to avoid interacting with her fellow classmates in the morning.

On this day however, Michelle Jones found herself unable to think straight due to the incident this morning.

MJ couldn't believe that she was actually feeling this way thanks to something as meaningless as a social interaction. She was a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, raised to be unaffected by her emotions. Logic should have been the only thing controlling her life. MJ killed people for a living.

Peter was gone, and it was because of her. She wouldn't have blamed him if he never wanted to speak to her again.

Once MJ got out of the shower to find herself alone in the apartment, the first thing she did was begin to search. She asked May if he'd come by, she'd used police scanners to find out if there were any incidents involving a powered individual, she even hacked into a few S.H.I.E.L.D. satellites to try and pinpoint his location.

All of her resources didn't amount to anything, so there was only one place left to check. School was probably the last place a normal kid would run to, but Peter wasn't normal. If MJ didn't find him here, she wouldn't have any idea where to go next.

The moment MJ opened the door of her homeroom, Mr. Harrington, along with every other student in the class turned to face her.

Ah, how she missed seeing the people who made her life miserable. As usual, people began snickering or whispering to each other not too subtly. MJ learned to tune out their comments that ranged from insulting her seemingly dark personality or her disregard for the western standard of 'beauty', but that didn't make them hurt any less.

She at least liked Mr. Harrington, especially since he was the teacher in charge of Academic Decathlon - quite possibly the only aspect she enjoyed about this school. He was a bit of a simpleton at times, occasionally losing a student or two on a field trip. Harrington meant well though, and he was smart when he wanted to be. If MJ wanted to get away with something, she hoped he would always be the teacher to catch her.

"Ms. Jones." Harrington greeted with a smile. "Glad you could join us. But I'm required to remind you that this is your sixteenth time being late this year alone."

Surveying the room, she let out a sigh of relief once she saw Peter in the back-left corner next to Ned Leeds and Betty Brant. He seemed to be alright, and that's all that mattered.

"It won't happen again, sir." She smirked, heading towards the desk nearest to them, dropping her backpack onto the floor with a thud and placing her boots up on the surface.

"Is that a promise?"

MJ shrugged, pulling out her notebook and a pencil.

"We both know I'm not going to be on time from now on. Come on, Mr. Harrington, you know me better than that by now."

"I was just hoping. Now then, as I was telling the class, open your textbooks to page one hundred and seventeen. You're being assigned questions one through twelve. There's forty-five minutes left this period, so if you get to work now, you can finish before the bell. Feel free to get in a group, and I'll be here in case you need to ask me some questions."

The silence was immediately broken, students turning to one another without making any move for their textbooks. At times, MJ was pretty sure she was the only person who did the work. It was no wonder why Harrington liked her, regardless of her punctuality issues.

Not that she was going to join in on the idiots and their socializing, but MJ didn't reach for her textbook either. Tugging Peter by the sleeve of his flannel, he met her gaze with an expressionless face, letting out a deep breath.

"Sorry." They said in unison, much to the surprise of the other.

"You're sorry?!" MJ questioned, keeping her voice low in order to avoid being heard, but not coming off any less shocked.

"Well... yeah." He responded innocently, hanging his head. "You know... because of what I did."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Peter."

Peter finally met her gaze with his jaw dropped slightly. She couldn't remember a time when she'd seen him so puzzled about something. Now, Michelle was no mind reader, but if she was, she would probably see the gears turning like Patrick Star.

"But after I talked to you, I saw you crying. You were -"

"Hold up." She cut him off, treading lightly since the way he answered this question would determine some very important rules in their living arrangements. "How did you see me in the shower?"

"I can see through stuff."

Urgently, MJ grabbed the ends of her jacket, covering up her chest with her face heating up in humiliation.

"You saw me naked?!"

Like most people her age, MJ was a little... self-conscious... when it came to her body. It wasn't just about the scars, although she believed they didn't contribute positively to her image. She was taller than even most boys her age, which was often used as a mockery when she was younger.

Even though her peers grew out of it and realized that height was something they should envy (that was at least the story she told herself), MJ found new insecurities in her mind. For example, her feet were considered large for a woman when they should have been small, and her breasts were small when they should have been large.

Someone seeing her like that was easily the worst thing that could have happened to her. If it was a friend of all things, MJ considered that a betrayal.

"I didn't know you were naked."

But then she took a step back to evaluate the situation. Peter didn't know what he did was wrong. And after all, she looked in on him naked. However, she did it because of her hormones, while he simply wanted to check on her.

"I- it's okay." She began, slightly ashamed of herself. "Just... you're not allowed to invade people’s privacy like that. Especially when they don't have any clothes on. Do you understand?"

"I think so." Peter nodded along. "Does this mean we're still friends?"

It was almost unfair how easy it was for her to forgive him. Peter just had that kind of impact on her. She would have found it annoying if he wasn't so damn wholesome about everything.

"Of course." MJ said, flashing him a rare, genuine smile. "I told you, I'm never going to leave you. Friends don't break promises, Peter."


	9. Chapter 9

Liz Allan wished she could have said her Academic Decathlon team was successful. She would have even settled for mediocre. But alas, it was her fourth year at Midtown - her third year as captain of the team - and they had yet to make it to Nationals. This was her last chance; it she was determined to make it count.

Up to this point, Liz felt as though she'd done everything right. She prioritized her studies above all else, achieving a ninety-six percent average in all her classes, joined the necessary clubs such as Decathlon, the debate team, the orchestra, all things that would come to her aid when the time came for her to apply to colleges.

She even earned an internship at the one and only Stark Industries.

But things needed to be perfect, and her favourite club was the only area in which she was lacking.

Liz cared about the team; she really did. Ned hardly missed a question, and was the go-to guy when it came to all questions computer related, Cindy and Abe were pretty much two walking chemistry textbooks, Charles couldn't be beaten when it came to medical questions due to his parents being doctors, and Michelle was their resident history buff, spewing out facts about the Bubonic plague and every war like it was her superpower. Others such as Sally and Gwen were well-rounded, making them perfect alternates.

People knew their strengths, and everyone knew their weaknesses. The rules Liz put in place made sure that each one of them got first crack at their specialty.

Liz read coaching books, took various notes on TED Talks, organized team-building exercises, got to know each and every one of her fellow teammates personally (even Michelle who was the biggest recluse she had the pleasure of knowing), and went the extra mile to organize practice tournaments in the auditorium.

Despite all of these strengths, the one weakness of Midtown was the thing that became their downfall every single year.

Physics.

Specifically, Eugene Flash Thompson, the stereotypical spoiled, rich 'jock' who probably got into Midtown because of his parents' money. It didn't help that he was an insufferable asshole, and unfortunately the strongest physics student they had access to. Not that he was particularly clever, rather he was their only choice.

To make things worse, Principal Morita came to the team earlier to tell them that a new student would be joining them, and that they should have given him a chance to join Academic Decathlon. It would without a doubt throw everything off, and it was a risk Liz was not willing to take.

In preparation for this year, Liz and Morita had a little arrangement so the team could miss second period twice a week for a meeting, and the so-called recruit would be attending.

Obviously, Liz would try to be as nice to him as possible, but there was no chance of him making the cut. Was it a little harsh? Absolutely. But they just couldn't afford any mistakes this year. Her entire future depended on it.

As she was organizing her flashcards together along with textbooks from a series of classes, she could faintly hear the door to the library open from behind her. Turning around to face the first arrivals, Liz smiled to herself once she caught a glimpse of Michelle, who was followed closely by Ned and a boy she didn't recognize.

What did Morita say his name was? Parker? Parker something? There was definitely a P in there somewhere.

The mystery boy was cute, she had to give him that. His curly brown hair gave the impression that he'd just rolled out of bed, not combed like most people in the school, but he made it work. Even though he was incredibly pale, he had a certain quality about him that screamed energetic.

He was also noticeably muscular, his blue flannel becoming stretched out due to his broad shoulders, paired with defined forearms she could see thanks to his sleeves being rolled up slightly. Liz was rarely the kind of girl to judge a person on their physique, but if this was the recruit, she didn't see that harm in giving him a chance.

"So, where did you say you were from again?" Ned asked him curiously, their conversation becoming audible to all.

"Uh..." he trailed off, turning to Michelle for confirmation, receiving a hardly noticeable mouthing of the answer. "Kansas... City. My parents and I just moved here a couple days ago."

Much to Liz's disappointment, Flash entered the library just moments later, practically running past the three of them in order to get the seat closest to hers. He wasn't a very subtle person, and made no effort to hide the fact that he had a teeny-tiny crush on her. She wouldn't have exactly minded if he wasn't rude to everyone.

Most people would have seen him as the 'ideal high school boyfriend', taking his family wealth into account, passable looks, and being the starting quarterback on the football team. However, people in Midtown weren't as shallow as he was. Personality could change anything, and his was like sandpaper.

"Hey, Liz." Flash said with a grin. "You look nice today."

"And therefore she has value?" Michelle chimed in with her usual smart-ass attitude, sitting beside Ned and the mystery boy.

Flash - regardless of his darker skin tone - turned as red as a tomato, stammering nervously while trying his best to form a witty comeback, but no words escaped his lips. She tended to have that kind of effect on people. Especially Flash. Liz found herself snickering slightly, trying her best to keep it contained.

"I- I swear I didn't mean it like that!" He finally answered, holding up his hands in defence.

Thank God for having a friend like Michelle around, otherwise Flash would have spoken way more than he already did. Friend was of course a loose term. Liz liked to think of most people as a friend, but when it came to Michelle, it became pretty difficult to measure where you stood with her.

Over the few years of knowing her, she'd come up with a couple of points to figure out how close Michelle was with a person.

The lowest level was called the 'FLASH LEVEL', and there was only one person at that point. The perks of this level included being insulted at almost every turn, high chances of public humiliation, calling you by your real name as opposed to your desired nickname, and the rare privilege of bodily harm. Liz never knew how it was possible, but there were rumors of Michelle dislocating his wrist back in the second grade.

The middle - where most of the Decathlon team resided - was known as the 'DUMBASS LEVEL', named after Michelle's favourite remark. Liz, among many others, were occasionally called names, but it was in more of a playful way. She acted quite cold towards people, yet meant well.

Then the highest possible level was where Liz hoped to be one day, known as the 'MJ LEVEL'. Michelle Jones was always careful in what she revealed about herself, but what teachers and students both knew was her self-assigned nickname; MJ. Literally no one in the world was allowed to call her this. She assumed it took a special bond with her in order to earn the right.

Before Flash could open his mouth to speak once again, the rest of the team appeared in the library, putting a stop to his words and taking their usual places around the table. All except for Gwen, who normally sat closest to Liz, but had to settle for a spot on the end since hers was taken up by Flash.

"Okay," she began in a stern voice, putting a stop to the chatting. "settle down so we can finally get started. I think it's safe to say that we all know how important year this is, and I want you to bring you A game. And the new kid Principal Morita told us about is going to be joining us this meeting, and if he does well, he'll be on the team for the rest of the year. It's Parker... isn't it?"

Underneath the table, Michelle nudged him slightly with her own leg, causing him to look up suddenly, realizing he was supposed to answer.

"I'm Parker. Uh-- Peter Parker."

"We don't want to waste your time." Flash said in a subtle mocking tone. "You should probably go back to class, Pee-Pee."

This clearly went over Peter's head, giving him a naive smile in return.

"My name's actually Peter Parker. And you don't need to worry about wasting my time. I wanna be here."

Liz gave Flash a scowl from the corner of her eye, wishing she could have yelled at him right then and there, but deciding against it as she didn't want to disturb the others in the library. Peter seemed like a perfectly nice boy. Far nicer than most boys in fact.

Just the way Flash spoke to him, acting superior when he had no reason to. Confidence wasn't a bad thing, but Flash believed he was better than everyone else in the worst possible way. Liz got the idea that his image of himself was far different compared to what it actually was. The arrogance was enough to make her want to puke.

"Anyway... the thing I want to focus on this year is strengthening our weaknesses. I want us to be more well-rounded as a team instead of relying on one person for each topic. It's worked for us in the past, but it hasn't gotten us far enough. Time for a change of strategy. Ned, you can go with Michelle and teach her about computers while she can teach you about history. Abe, pair up with Charles. Biology nearly killed you last year, and he could probably get through to you better than Mr. Carpent. Cindy, Gwen... keep an eye on Flash. Make sure he isn't as vacuous as usual."

"What does vacuous mean?" Flash asked curiously.

"You also might want him to go over his English. In the mean time, I can quiz Peter on his knowledge, and figure out where he can fit in. Just come to me if you have any questions. Sound good?"

Everyone paired off into their groups just as they'd been instructed, leaving Peter and Liz alone at the table, although he wasn't paying much attention to her. Oddly enough, he kept looking over his shoulder, off into the direction that Ned and MJ had left in.

Liz decided to take this opportunity to examine him a little closer without him knowing, picking up on a few other details that added to the mystery that was Peter Parker. The most puzzling being the small tattoo on the back of his head that became moderately visible now that he was facing the opposite direction.

It was the kind of thing that if you blinked even for the slightest second you would have missed it completely. Placed carefully right by his earlobe, she could swear that it was a small skull, with... tentacles? No. That would have been ridiculous. Perhaps it was just a birthmark, or the lights playing tricks on her eyes instead.

"We should probably start now." She began, breaking the silence, handing him a notebook and a pencil while preparing the questions. "How do you feel about starting with some basic math?"

"Hmm? Oh, uh... yeah."

Peter made no movement to get ready for the questions, but leaned back in his chair, acting relaxed, not nervous like most people would have been. Liz wasn't sure if he was just that good at this, or if he didn't care what the outcome was.

"Given the arithmetic series, where the first term is equal to five, and the common difference between the numbers is ten, find the sum of the first 30 terms."

"Forty-five hundred." He answered immediately, causing Liz's mouth to drop down slightly, seeing that the sum he gave was the exact same one on the answer key. Peter gulped, scratching the back of his head, trying to come up with an explanation. "I - I think fast, I guess..."

It was a fluke, it had to be. Either that or he managed to see the page somehow. No matter, she kept the notebook close to the chest, keeping it at an angle that it was impossible for him to see it. Liz could barely read out the next question, but eventually got the words out.

"If five hundred dollars is invested at five percent interest compounded quarterly, how long will it take to equal eight hundred dollars? You can round to the nearest tenth of the year if you -"

"Nine point four-five-nine years."

Still no calculator, still the correct answer. What was up with this guy? If Liz didn't know any better, she would have guessed he had some kind of supercomputer in that head of his, or maybe he was just that fast. Peter must have been like Quicksilver... no. Her mind tended to go to very strange places sometimes.

"How about we move on with physics? If an object moves to the right ten meters from the starting point in a time of exactly one second, then to the left twenty meters in a time of exactly three seconds and then to the right five meters in a time of one second, what is the average speed of the object over the whole time interval?"

"Seven meters per second. And the velocity is one meter per second in the left direction."

***

"He's _that_ fast?" Gwen asked with an unamused look of disbelief, playing with the hem of her skirt as herself, Liz, Cindy and Sally were all huddled together in the back of the classroom, talking amongst themselves instead of listening to Mrs. Williams' lesson. "I call bullshit."

Peter pretty much answered every question Liz fired at him in a heartbeat, and he was almost always right. She could see that there were some gaps in his knowledge, and they were common things that most people knew. When she briefly mentioned her internship at Stark Industries, he genuinely had no idea what that was. Liz made a mental note to explain the whole thing to him later on.

And he certainly wasn't the smartest out of the members of the team. Michelle or Cindy could have easily bested him overall, but he had a knack for math and physics. Peter Parker was exactly the piece they were missing.

The first thing Liz did once she got to third period was gather a few of her teammates together in order to fill them in on what transpired earlier. Ignoring the lesson was a bit of a risk, but it was also one of two classes she shared with anyone from Decathlon. Besides, how many times would she get to tell a story like this?

"I mean, yeah," Gwen continued. "he's pretty fucking hot, not gonna lie, but people can't do math that quickly. Unless he has superpowers or some crazy stuff going on, I don't buy it. We don't even know anything about him."

"Did you really have to bring up his looks?" Cindy questioned; her brows furrowed.

"Yep." She said, pushing some of her blonde hair behind her ear. "I'm still glad he's on the team though. Does this mean he can take Flash's place?"

Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. Peter was clearly smarter, but Mr. Harrington made it very clear that people earned their spots based on how well the performed in competitions (no one actually knew how Flash managed to make it to the top). She couldn't just put a new guy in right away and move him to first alternate. They would just have to wait and hope for the best.

"Eventually." Liz nodded, choosing to give them some sort of hope. "Whatever, it's still his first day, so if you have any classes with him, try to find out a little more about him. I'm pretty sure we have P.E. with him next, so that'll be a good place to check him out."

"In more ways than one." Gwen muttered under her breath, smirking.


	10. Chapter 10

"Here's the one thing you need to know about P.E." Ned began explaining to Peter, holding open the door to the change room and following him inside. "It's easily the most useless class in all of Midtown. I mean, chemistry is always boring but we at least get something out of that, but whatever."

The two slowly made their way through the rest of the boys over to the back corner of the room, setting down their gym uniforms onto the bench and kicking off their shoes.

The first thing Peter noticed was the smell. He couldn't exactly place what it was, nor was he offended by it, yet it was rather... off. Somewhat rancid, with hints of mold-like characteristics. No one else seemed to notice however, and even if they did no one cared. He simply shrugged it off, following Ned's lead, beginning to change into his uniform.

"I'm not saying it doesn't have its upsides. We share a class with the girls, so that's pretty cool. And as long as you do what Coach Wilson says, you'll get like, a hundred percent in this. It's a huge mark-booster. Besides, you seem to be in pretty good shape. Which reminds me, Coach Wilson's been trying to find a -"

"Sup, Penis Parker." Flash cut him off, coming between the two of them, his friends forming a circle around them with their arms crossed. "Are you being serious right now Ned? You really wanna hang out with this loser?"

Ned turned around to glare at Flash, towering over him while appearing to be unphased by the attempt of intimidation. He sighed, pulling his Midtown T-shirt on and placing his hand on Flash's chest, pushing him with minimal effort, causing him to stumble backwards, bumping into one of the others.

"Come on man, leave him alone."

Peter was rather surprised in the moment, fully realizing for the first time how massive Ned actually was in comparison to the other boys. Unlike Betty, they could be described as anything but small. Even the ones taller than Peter appeared physically inferior to Ned.

Flash clenched his fists, eyes darting between the two of them before storming off towards the gym, leaving Peter and Ned alone in the corner. Ned shook his head in frustration, picking up his shoes and sitting down on the bench to tie them up.

Peter could hardly process what had just occurred. That was the second time that day Ned had decided to help him, even though he had no obligation to do so. The impression he got from Flash kept getting worse with every interaction, and he didn't seem like a person to cross in the school. Peter could have handled it himself, but Ned didn't have powers like he did.

What did that mean? Why did Ned keep being _this _nice to him?

"Don't worry about Flash." He said, springing to his feet. "Are you good?"

"Uh... yeah. Thanks. I mean... I don't need you to go to the trouble. I can't get by on my own."

Ned laughed to himself, placing an arm around Peter's shoulder while leading him outside. If he wasn't incapable of feeling any pain, he probably would have let out a quiet groan in distress. But it didn't come off as unpleasant. Quite the opposite in fact. Being supported, having a friend, gave Peter a sense of comfort.

"You've got way too much pride, dude. Everyone needs help whether they ask for it or not, and if you do, I'll be there. Putting it simply, you're my amigo now. My brother from another mother. The Anakin to my Obi-Wan. You know, Clone Wars Anakin and Obi-Wan, not episode two and three Anakin and Obi-Wan. The point is, I've got your back."

Peter was beaming, although his mind was racing a mile a second in an attempt to figure out the rest of his words. Who the heck were Anakin and Obi-Wan, and what in God's name was Clone Wars? Based upon the excitement in his voice by the mention of their names, he assumed they were fairly important and well-known. Not wanting to come off as a fool, Peter left it at that.

The gym was easily the largest area in the entire school - at least going off what Peter had seen up to this point. The ceilings must have been about three stories high, but he knew he could have cleared the entire thing with a single leap. Another key detail Peter noticed was that it was separated into two factions.

On the left were the boys; including Flash, his friends, along with Abe and Charles who were present at the decathlon meeting. He didn't catch their names until they introduced themselves afterwards, trying to strike up a conversation about... something, but Peter found himself unable to respond. He hoped to God that he didn't offend either of them as they seemed like decent people.

On the opposite side were the girls. MJ had put herself noticeable distance away from everyone, sitting at the very top of the bleachers with a book rested on her lap. Peter squinted slightly, his vision zooming in to read the title: _IT. _She kept on mouthing the words as her eyes moved across the page. Clearly, MJ had read the book many times before.

He could clearly see that she wearing a dark blue shirt that looked far too large on her, the neckline hanging off to the side and exposing her shoulder and the strange mark that resided there. Peter recalled that she had many of those all over her body, some looking more severe than others.

Another girl he recognized was Liz, who was engaged in a conversation with Ned's girlfriend Betty, as well as two others he didn't know the names of, but both were members of the decathlon team.

The first had a grin plastered on her face, having wide eyes that had grey irises paired with jet-black hair coming down to her narrow shoulders. Wishing not to eavesdrop, Peter successfully managed to pick up a quick sentence without invading their privacy, discovering that her name was Cindy.

The remaining girl stood out like the moon in the night sky, with her near-white hair reflecting the lights on the ceiling directly into Peter's eyes. He simply studied her, picking up on her blue eyes that resembled the first clear sky he'd seen, and the peculiar shade of pink on her cheeks.

Peter shrugged, turning back to Ned who was signaling him to follow, going up to a man who was standing in the middle of the gym, separating the boy’s side from the girl’s side, keeping a close eye on everyone. He had a slightly darker skin tone than MJ, having a whistle around his neck and a clipboard in his hands, paired with a Midtown ballcap that was placed over his large head. He was by no means intimidating, having a kind face much like Ned's.

"Coach Wilson." Ned smiled, presenting him proudly. "This is Peter Parker. He's new to the school, and I thought we could give him a tryout for the team."

"_Team_?" Peter questioned. "You mean... there's more than just decathlon?"

Coach Wilson seemed a little surprised by his comment, but chose not to pursue it any further. He nodded at Ned, and Peter would have guessed that there was a great deal of respect between the two of them. Coach Wilson proceeded to circle around Peter multiple times, poking him here and there while making quick notes on his clipboard.

"We'll see how you do in this class, and if you do well you can join our practice after school. You're a little on the skinny side, but that's nothing some work in the weight room couldn't fix. And since Ned seems convinced, you can't be that bad. Are you fast?"

He wanted to say 'beyond belief' or 'God, if you only knew' or something along those lines. Peter had yet to push himself to the limits of his speed, but according to MJ, she had a hard time seeing him when he moved that way. Instead, he nodded in response, choosing to say "I'm fast enough."

Peter wanted to do his best, despite not knowing what team he was trying to join. Decathlon seemed like it would be pretty fun, and if teams were a part of the normal high school experience, that gave him all the more incentive.

After clicking his pen closed, Coach Wilson blew his whistle, causing everyone to fall silent and turn to him. He then instructed them to gather together on the bleachers. Peter and Ned departed from him, whispering as they joined everyone else.

"Sorry to put you on the spot like that." Ned apologized sheepishly. "If you don't want to play football, that's cool. If I'm being honest, I didn't want to play at first. The only reason I joined was because Coach asked me to, cause you know, I'm a pretty big guy. But trust me, it was totally worth it. Since I'm a lineman, I get to tackle people, and that's pretty cool. And it gives you something to do most days after school, so it's a great way to avoid..." He seemed to realize what he was about to say next, putting himself to a stop, looking slightly horrified with himself, and woeful. "Never mind."

The two climbed up onto the bleachers, sitting only a few places away from MJ, and in close proximity to Abe, Charles, and the rest of the decathlon team. Ned kept half his focus on Coach Wilson, continuing his conversation with Peter.

"Anyways, we've been needing another wide receiver for a while now. If things work out, it looks like the position's yours."

***

Gwen was exactly where she hoped she would be; only one seat away from the new boy called Peter Parker. The spot she had was perfect, sitting directly beside him with Coach Wilson off to the side. That way, Gwen angled herself to face her teacher, pretending to pay attention to his words while stealing glances of Peter.

She could have sworn he was looking at her earlier when he first entered the gym, maybe for just a second, but it could have been much longer. Either way, Peter had clearly noticed her.

"You ever play football before?" Ned questioned, Gwen listening closely to their conversation.

Being a friend of Ned Leeds was a massive point in his favour. She never associated with him outside of decathlon related activities, but it was a widely-known fact around Midtown that he was one of the nicest boys in the school. Gwen also considered herself a close friend of Ned's girlfriend, Betty Brant, who could literally go on for a fortnight about how fantastic he was.

It got somewhat annoying at times, but not because it got repetitive. At sixteen years old (seventeen in January), Gwen had never had a boyfriend, let alone met someone who could meet her father's impossible standards. There was an occasional boy here and there she would think about, but yearned to have a relationship like Ned and Betty's.

Peter would have to prove he had more than just looks and brains if Gwen decided to pursue him. Being a good person was something she judged people on above all else. George Stacy always said 'if he's not respectable, I'll shoot him'. Unfortunately, Peter Parker was definitely not bulletproof.

"Never." He answered quietly. "What uh... what is a wide receiver?"

Very interesting. Gwen wasn't big on sports, but even she knew a receiver was. Practically everyone in the school had played football at some point in their lives, whether they were good at it or not. Physical education focused on every sport, so how could he manage to avoid it for this long? Liz was right; Peter was a peculiar boy.

"Parker." Coach Wilson repeated, causing Peter and Ned to put their conversation to a stop. "Did you hear what I said? Baseline, you're going up in a race against Thompson. I wanna see how fast you really are."

There was a reason people called Eugene Thompson 'Flash' (other than the fact that he told everyone to call him that, paid people five bucks when they didn't, and he hated having the name Eugene). He'd earned the name on the football field, hardly anyone was able to catch up with him. No one in the school could outmatch him.

Peter glanced behind him, facing MJ who muttered something under her breath and using a single hand to cover her mouth, going unnoticed by everyone within an earshot. Ned gave Peter a quick pat on the back for support as he descended the bleachers, followed by Flash who had a smug look on his face.

The two lined up side-by-side, and Coach Wilson jogged over to the opposite end of the gym, preparing his whistle.

"Let's go over the rules, gentlemen." He shouted. "No false starts, no cheating, and make sure you stay in your lane. You'll be running a distance of approximately a hundred and twenty yards. Try not to go easy on him, _Flash_. No sore losers, whoever I say wins, wins."

"Twenty bucks on Peter." Liz whispered to Gwen, Cindy, and Betty, eyeing him intently. "If his legs move as fast as his brain, this'll be easy for him."

Pretty much everyone in the school would have enjoyed watch Eugene Thompson get showed up, but there was little to no logic to her friends' argument. Even if there was, Gwen still had her doubts regarding his speed. She hated to admit it, but based upon the evidence, Flash had the odds in his favour.

Each one of them agreed to Liz's proposal, and everyone except Betty believed Peter would lose. That girl was incapable of being mean to anyone. It was no wonder she hit it off with Ned. They may have been opposite in looks, but their personalities meshed together perfectly.

Peter and Flash lined against the wall, both getting into their starting position by crouching onto the floor and placing their hands on the baseline. Neither of them came off as nervous, completely convinced that the other would lose.

"Take a good look, Parker. You've got yourself a front row to watch me win."

"Ready..." Coach Wilson began.

Peter exhaled, staring forward and ignoring his remark.

"... set ..."

At the second command, the two extended their legs, raising their hips up in the air slightly, the gym falling silent in anticipation.

A few moments before the whistle was blown, Flash took off early, leaving him behind. He must have covered fourteen yards or so in two second until the race truly began. There was no possible way Peter could catch up, but for some reason, he waited to start. Students began shouting at him to go, and _finally_, he launched himself forward with near-superhuman acceleration, leaving two marks of burned rubber from of the bottom of his shoes in his starting location.

Peter showed no sign of breaking a sweat as he passed Flash at the halfway mark. From there, he only continued to extend his lead, touching the wall where Coach Wilson stood in mere seconds. He really _was_ that fast. Nothing that could pass for the Avengers, but the part that caused the most surprise was that he actually won. Not just won - he caught up to him, and managed to pass him.

"Fuck." Gwen cursed. "Unbelievable. Fucking unbelievable."

Behind the group, MJ smiled to herself, brushing some hair in front of her right eye in order to conceal a portion of her face. The glee was short-lived, the smile fading away once she picked up the conversation between Gwen and Liz.

"_Told you._" She said in a sing-song voice. "He's officially nice, smart, and cute. The total package."

"I said I thought he was _hot_." Gwen corrected. "I still do. But you still haven't proved anything."


	11. Chapter 11

MJ sighed to herself, walking down the sidewalk next to Peter, neither one of them speaking to the other. He seemed perfectly content with the silence, and she was pretending to be so as well. In truth, her mind was racing, completely focused on what she overheard Gwen and Liz say the other day.

They thought he was attractive! Granted, MJ thought the exact same thing, and she certainly couldn't blame anyone for that. It was her belief that people could say or think whatever the hell thy wanted, and it wasn't any of her business. However, they actually wanted to _date _Peter by the sound of things, and that was where she drew the line.

A relationship with him would have been irresponsible - worse than that - it would have been immoral. Peter hadn't yet matured, his only memories consisting of seven days, and existing for less than a year. People could have talked him into doing anything at this point in his life. Gwen and Liz were nice enough, but the things they could have done to Peter in pursuit of a relationship scared her.

Michelle Jones had been entrusted with Peter Parker, and from her point of view, she'd been doing a pretty shitty job so far.

Look what Ned Leeds was able to talk him into after one fucking day together! In her sixteen years on earth, MJ could never understand the appeal of American football (in her mind, football made very little sense since they barely used their feet).

At least Peter wouldn't be _able_ to get hurt like anyone else, but that still didn't put her mind at ease.

MJ's true worry was that he would go too far on the field. If Peter ran just a little too fast or hit someone a little too hard, people could put two and two together and figure out he had powers. He'd already beaten Eugene Thompson with minimal effort, and while that was her idea, she regretted that she encouraged it.

To the surprise of no one who witnessed the race between him and Flash, Peter was put on the football team immediately.

If only she'd been able to foresee the consequences of the events she put into motion. Every day after school, Peter would meet up with his new companion; Ned Leeds - with whom he'd been spending the majority of his time with since Monday - so they could practice with the rest of the team.

For an entire hour or so, MJ perched herself on the roof of the school with a pair of binoculars to keep an eye on him, practically being forced to watch a game that she both did not understand and did not care for. While this could be tolerated, watching Gwen and Liz attempt to 'get to know him' made her sick to her stomach.

There were only two things that gave her some relief; the first being that Fury and Hill hadn't sent her on any missions that week, providing a rare opportunity for some normality. At least as much as she could have with a genetically engineered super boy living one bedroom across from her.

The second was today's field trip, specifically for the members of Academic Decathlon. Liz had organized the whole thing herself as some stupid team building exercise. However, Michelle wasn't excited for the _why_, but rather the _where. _What with Liz having an internship at Stark Industries, all ten students would be spending the day at Avengers Tower.

It was a place she visited many times over the years with her Aunt Natasha, and while most kids her age would have been loathing a field trip where they visited their (almost) family, MJ was willing to jump at any chance she got to be in the same room as the Avengers. After all, Clint and Natasha had done a lot more to raise her than her actual parents. Whether it was taking MJ to the farm to visit Laura or visiting on nights when Fury and Hill were away on mission, they were always one phone call away.

Just the single prospect of seeing them put a halt to MJ's current predicament. Besides, maybe it would have done some good for Peter to get some one-on-one time with other abnormal people. She just needed to figure out how to find the right time for them to meet.

With the school bus coming into view just outside of Midtown, MJ came to a stop while letting Peter go ahead by himself, something they'd made a habit of all week. It would have raised some suspicion if they kept showing up everywhere at the exact same time. Better safe than sorry.

She sometimes wondered if it was worth the trouble. The moment he joined the rest of the team, Gwen was already talking to him. Even Ned seemed a little disappointed now that he wasn't able to talk to his best friend on the team, but why did she feel this horrible watching her with him?

Normally, MJ would have judged people from afar based on their facial expressions. But as usual, Peter's face was completely neutral, looking down at Gwen as she kept on running her mouth. He didn't seem very invested in the one-sided conversation, and his eyes kept darting over to Ned.

"Some of us are actually getting together after the football game tomorrow night." MJ faintly heard Gwen say to Peter once she was in an earshot. "It'll just be the decathlon team, the football team, and a few others. I was hoping you could come."

MJ involuntarily scowled at the blonde girl. Was it weird to get annoyed by someone's voice that much? And why the fuck did she keep touching her hair?! It was already blinding everyone else in a ten-mile radius, so why did she need to keep drawing attention to it?!

At least she was invited. If Peter said yes - which he probably would, since he never said no to anything - Michelle would have to tag along so she could babysit him.

"What's happening?" he asked cluelessly, making that confused face that appeared whenever some new concept was introduced to him.

"Well, I wouldn't really call it a 'party' or anything like that. You know, unless you guys give us something to celebrate for. We're meeting out by the lake out in the woods. It should be fun."

Gwen awaited eagerly for a response for what seemed like minutes, but Peter simply blinked robotically, his mind no doubt racing at Mach speed trying to figure out what was going on.

"Ooooookay." she smiled awkwardly. "Just think about it, will you? And uh... good luck tomorrow. You're gonna do great."

Before Gwen finally departed from him, she had the _audacity _to caress Peter's shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze, raising her eyebrows in astonishment.

That alone was enough to push MJ to her breaking point. They could talk all they wanted, but when she made a move on Peter (a biological teenager but a chronological infant), that was too far. Pulling up her left sleeve to bring out her watch, MJ raised her hand while closing a single eye, aiming carefully and shooting a small dart into Gwen's neck from across the street, sending her down to the ground in a second. To others, it would have seemed like she fainted.

Liz rushed over to help the little pest up to her feet while Peter turned on his heels, walking towards Ned without paying the now awake Gwen any more attention. At last, a good sign. If he kept ignoring her like this, then maybe she would finally back off.

***

For the first time in his existence, Peter truly believed that he was not alone in the world. There were people like Ned and MJ who kept telling him that they were there for him, and he would always want them to be in his life, but this was different. There were other people like him!

When MJ told him where they were going and who these so-called _Avengers _were, Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. Above all, the two he was hoping to meet were The Winter Soldier and Scarlet Witch. According to MJ both of them were the victims of Hydra's experimentation, just like he was.

_Not alone, _Peter thought to himself repeatedly as dozens of questions went through his head. What did this field trip even mean for him? What sort of relationship would he have with them? Would they like him? Would they take him in? How could they help him?

Ned too was having a similar reaction on the bus, although he was asking his questions out loud, and they didn't stem from an identity crisis.

"What do you think Hulk smells like?" he mused, gazing out through the open windows as the vehicle was stationary while caught in traffic. "Before, since he only had like, one pair of shorts, I'm pretty sure he stunk. But now since he's got the whole 'merged Bruce Banner and Hulk personalities' thing going, he has to shower sometimes... right? How's he supposed to find a shower big enough though? And the bar of soap would look like a pebble next to him! At least I'm guessing, since I heard he uses a tablet instead of a phone. Speaking of phones, how does Thor call people? It's not like they could get a signal all the way in Asgard."

In an attempt to conceal his lack of knowledge on a subject that was clearly known by all the other members of the team, Peter simply shrugged in response, tapping his foot nervously against the floor of the bus, putting extreme care into the act or else he would have torn a hole through the bottom.

"Nah," Ned chuckled slightly. "there's no way he has a phone. Thor doesn't even have pockets! ... or does he?"

Not much time had passed until the school bus pulled up outside of Avengers Tower, a few members of the team rushing out of the bus to head inside instead of waiting for Mr. Harrington. 'A few members of the team' of course referred to Flash Thompson - quite possibly the only person on the field trip who had no manners.

Exiting the bus _after_ Harrington's instruction, Peter stopped the moment his feet touched the concrete to get a good look at the colossal building. The mere sight of it was could be described as nothing short of spectacular, a gigantic _**A**_ plastered at the very top which was highlighted a bright blue. The entire thing must have been a hundred floors high, and Peter found himself wondering if he could have jumped that high.

Squinting to utilize his telescoping vision, he looked through some of the clear windows on one of the levels closest to the top; the ones where the Avengers occasionally slept, ate, and trained. Peter could clearly see the heroes seated in what was probably the living room, chatting away.

Professor Hulk and Thor were engaged in some kind of disagreement, but gave off the same impression he got when MJ disagreed with one of the teachers at Midtown; heated, but respectful (although there were a few smashed objects between them). Captain America, Falcon, and the Winter Soldier were seated around a table, with Falcon trying to introduce some kind of device to the two men out of time.

Peter saw that in the corner was Wanda Maximoff, smiling happily while talking to Natasha Romanoff. Nervous as he was to meet the people he would hope to call friends, He couldn't help noticing that both of them were just as beautiful as people said they were. Peter felt a slight jolt in the lower region of his stomach, something he'd never felt before, or even thought was possible. It certainly wasn't painful, just... foreign. Whatever it was, walking seemed a little more difficult, but the feeling went away not long after he stopped focusing on it.

"I can't believe Liz actually works here." Ned said in awe, tilting his neck back to look up at the top as they entered. "It would be so cool if one of us could get a real job here one of these days. Hell, I'd even settle for working as a janitor or something. Plus they'd probably pay me a shit-ton of cash to keep this whole place clean - wait... how do I feel about this?"

"Janitor of Avengers Tower would be a pretty cool job." Peter agreed, now whispering because the decathlon team was gathered around Liz just outside of an elevator, and he didn't wish to talk over her.

It was as if she had the composure of one of the more stern teachers at Midtown, giving everyone - even Mr. Harrington - a look that said _be on your best behavior or you will suffer the consequences. _Peter would be the first to admit that he wasn't the best at reading facial expressions, but Mrs. Blanding said the same thing at the beginning of every class, and at the moment, the resemblance was uncanny.

"I had to do a lot to get you guys here," she began, handing out a blue ID badge to everyone while keeping a red one for herself. "but after we keep a few promises to Mr. and Mrs. Stark, we should all be ready to head upstairs. We'll get to see what they're working on in the labs, check out the Arc Reactor underneath the building, and - if we're lucky - get to meet one or two of the Avengers."

Amongst the excited high schoolers who were already breaking into loud conversations at the very mention of meeting one of earth's mightiest heroes, MJ raised her hand to get Liz's attention, nervously saying "Exactly what kind of promises do we have to keep?"

"Nothing too big. We just follow the standard security protocols. The head of security; Mr. Hogan, should meet us here soon to confiscate your phones as well as any other belongings you've brought with you. They can't have any of their tech making it outside of the building. After that, we'll be taken to the basement to answer a few routine questions. I had to go through the same thing when I was having my job interview here."

The distinct sound of someone clearing their throat grabbed the attention of the decathlon team. Peter turned to face a middle-aged man in a black suit, his hair showing signs of going grey and a decent amount of facial hair. He held a clipboard close to his chest, and with a quick blink to activate his x-ray vision, Peter could read the ID tag that was being covered to read **Harold 'Happy' Hogan: Forehead of Security**. It appeared that he had been running recently as he was slightly out of breath, sweat dripping down his neck.

"Damn those stairs." he muttered to himself, using his sleeve to dry his neck off. "Sorry I'm late, Liz, Professor Hulk broke the elevator yesterday. Anyway, my name is Harold Hogan, but everyone here calls me Happy. The elevator should be up and running by the time you've all gained security clearance, but we'll still have to walk twenty floors down and then up. Hope you've all got your legs stretched out,"

***

A little over five minutes later, the decathlon team stood cramped in a room that was almost pitch-black, having no windows, and only a small door as the lone exit which could only be locked and unlocked by Happy himself. In the dead center was a light shining ominously over a tall chair with a sea of wires connected to it, and a pair of cuffs that were meant to bind someone to it.

"Routine questions?" Gwen asked Liz with an unimpressed look on her face. "This looks like some kind of torture device out of a Bond film."

"Very perceptive of you, Ms. Stacy." Happy complimented, smiling proudly at the device. "What you guys see before you is **_the_** lie detector, designed by the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself. It measures a bunch of things that I won't even begin to try to pronounce, let alone spell. In total, it takes ninety-six variables into account, and even the slightest tell can give away your secrets. The Director wanted a lie detector that Romanoff couldn't beat."

But she did, and she taught MJ every last trick in the book to get it done herself. However, she tried to mask the panic that was already brewing inside of her from her fellow classmates, because she wasn't the only one in this room that had something to hide.

"Isn't this overkill?" Flash questioned, just as nervous as everyone else. "I mean... we don't have to do this! It's ridiculous!"

"Listen, kid, in this building alone lives nine of the most powerful people in the world, nearly a trillion dollars worth of tech, some of the best and brightest minds of the twenty-first century, and more secrets that could literally make your head explode. What would be ridiculous is letting a bunch of sixteen-year-olds into this place without going unchecked. So... who wants to be my first victim?"


	12. Chapter 12

Working as the Forehead of Security at Avengers Tower certainly had its perks. The pay was nearly three times larger than what Happy received when he was Iron Man's personal bodyguard and driver, the hours where far less chaotic, he no longer had to help Tony through hangovers (since his boss had cleaned up his act significantly over the years), and Happy had the privilege of calling some of the most powerful people in the world his friends.

However, it wasn't all good. There were things in the building that Happy wished he'd never seen in his life. He'd gained access to information that no one had a right to know, all in the name of protecting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets. The fact is that it wasn't Tony Stark or any other Avengers that demanded the questioning of visitors and potential employees. It was Nick Fury.

Happy Hogan didn't know much about the enigma that called himself Nicholas Joseph Fury, despite being in regular contact with him for a little over ten years. It was nearly impossible to read the directors emotions (the single eye didn't exactly help with that), but if there was one thing that was for certain, it was that Fury wasn't afraid to manipulate people.

Although he would never admit it out of fear for his own life, Happy despised Fury and his methods. Today alone he had questioned more than half a dozen children and an innocent high school teacher. And Happy was given access to every S.H.I.E.L.D. file in order to find out the truth. All of them had passed with flying colours so far, but that didn't change that Happy had learned... _things_ about each of them.

Finally, there was only one person left to test, and by the looks of him, he wouldn't be too much trouble.

After clearing the guilty sweat away from his forehead with the sleeve of his black suit, Happy opened the door to the interrogation room to gaze down on a pale, pint-sized boy who barely measured up to any of the girls, and whose height was significant inches below the boys. It was as if his skin hadn't seen much sun in his life, giving off an appearance that was almost not human.

Happy ushered him inside, muttered a quick "hello" before closing the heavy door behind him and locking it. The boy sat himself in the lie detector, placing his wrists on top of the open cuffs while the older man made his way behind a Holotable. With the push of a button, the cuffs closed, preventing him from moving.

"Just relax. Trust me, you won't have anything to worry about as long as you tell the truth. Do you understand?"

Nervousness radiated from him, and his hands were clenched into fists to resist trying to break out of the chair - something he clearly wouldn't be able to do. In response, he nodded slowly, letting out a deep breath, accepting his fate.

"Good. Could you please tell me your full name?"

"Peter Benjamin Parker." he said in a monotone voice, and Happy entered the name into the database, pulling up all of his files, from his school records to his birth certificate to his medical records to his S.H.I.E.L.D. file. At least that was what he expected. Those last two didn't seem to exist.

That wasn't the only peculiar thing Happy had noticed about this boy. Already, the lie detector was showing that his pulse was less than thirty beats per minute, appearing in some kind of pattern, only three at a time every few seconds, skipping beats more often than not. Peter's oxygen consumption was also out of the ordinary. He took in so little that any other person would have passed out.

Happy tapped on the screen repeatedly, believing it to be defective, but found that it was doing its job perfectly. The readings on Peter's skin and bones were also fairly irregular. The device seemed to be detecting metal, as if his bones were made out of steel. A few moments later, new readings came in, claiming that it wasn't just his bones, but even his skin were somehow made out of or containing Vibranium, but far stronger.

"Weird." he whispered to himself, pulling out the familiar blue binder with the routine questions prepared. "Okay, Peter, your file here tells me that you were born on the tenth of August, 2002, making you sixteen years old. Is this true?"

"Yes."

That was a lie. There was no doubt about it. Happy gave him a subtle glare, but chose not to make that fact known. While Peter had already been deceptive, it wasn't a large enough lie that he had to deny him access to the tower right then and there. Happy would simply keep asking questions, trying to catch him in more fibs.

"Could you please tell me who you're currently living with?"

"It's just me and my parents."

Yet another lie. Peter's pupils were dilated, almost completely covering up the dark brown iris. As well as this, his oxygen consumption had doubled, though it was still below what normal humans required, and his pulse increased to thirty-four beats per minute.

Why would someone lie about who they're living with, especially at such young of an age? At least Happy thought he was young. There was really no information that could prove otherwise. What he was certain of was that Peter Parker was his given name, and he didn't live with his parents.

"These next ones are going to get a little bit strange and a little bit personal, but please bear with me and just say the first thing that comes into your head. What is the difference between an egg and a rock?"

"You can use a rock to hurt someone. Birds take care of their eggs."

"Let's say you wash up on a deserted island alone. Sitting in the sand is a box. What is in that box?" The confusion on Peter's face was immeasurable, so Happy decided to speak once more in order to clarify. "This is purely hypothetical. I'm really asking what you hope is inside the box. It could be anything you want. A person, or even a -"

"Ned," Peter chirped immediately. "so I'd have someone to talk to."

"Have you ever been found guilty of a crime, been arrested for being suspected of committing a crime, or been brought in for questioning regarding a crime?"

"No."

That was the first actual question that he had answered truthfully, but that didn't mean he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Have you ever committed a serious crime? This would include acts of terrorism, treason, arson, murder, attempted murder, robbery, burglary, kidnapping, assault, extortion and/or blackmail, forgery, threatening, or breaking into a government facility?"

"No."

Red flags immediately started flying for Happy, because the lie detector was telling him that Peter undoubtedly lied. It could have meant that this boy had committed one of the crimes he listed, or even multiple. That was enough for Happy to press a button underneath the table to summon Romanoff to the basement. He would continue his question, but remain cautious.

"Do you believe in God?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever been in a romantic relationship with someone?"

"No."

"Have you ever travelled outside of the United States of America?"

"No."

The point of the personal questions was to confuse the subject. It was Fury's belief that letting someone get comfortable was the best way to get information out of them. S.H.I.E.L.D. would ask the questions they were actually interested in, then throw them off the trail by asking irrelevant questions. So far, Peter had told the truth when it didn't matter, but lied on all but one of the important ones.

"Do you know what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for?"

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division." he responded robotically, like the saying was rehearsed regularly or even implanted somewhere in his mind - the latter being the more ridiculous theory.

"Have you ever made contact with Alexander Pierce or Gideon Malick?"

"No."

The lie detector then did something that Happy didn't believe was possible. It wasn't sure if Peter Parker was telling the truth or not. The results were inconclusive, and he didn't know what he was supposed to do with that kind of information. Either Peter had met with one of those men, or the device really was defective.

"Have you ever heard of the Hydra experiment known as PRIME? And if so, can you provide any meaningful intel to S.H.I.E.L.D. or to the Avengers?"

"No."

Just like all the others questioned before him, the answer given was 'no', and everyone was telling the truth. Happy's watch beeped quietly, meaning that Natasha would be joining them in a few short moments. She was reserved for the special cases, something that rarely occurred, but he was glad for when the time came.

"What was that noise?" Peter asked, causing Happy to cover up his watch.

"I'm sure you're just imagining things, kid." he dismissed, glancing between him and the door, waiting for Natasha. "Just one more question, then I can decide if you're clear to join the rest of your classmates. Peter Parker..." Happy trailed off, a compartment underneath the Holotable sliding open silently to give him access to a pistol, just in case. "... have you ever been associated with the terrorist organization known as Hydra?"

Peter fell silent, his pulse quickening to near inhuman levels, moving so fast that the lie detector struggled to register every beat on the monitor. The rest of his vitals spiked, each of them turning red with warning. The galvanometer was nearly off the charts, his hairs standing on end.

The evidence was stacked against him. Only an agent of Hydra would have reacted as such on a subconscious level, and he was now convinced that this boy was associated with the organization. His body had betrayed him, revealing that this seemingly innocent child had committed crimes and gone unpunished. The strange biology, paired with strong possibility that he had been in contact with at least one of the high-ranking members was the final nail in the coffin.

"Peter Parker..." Happy tried again, picking up the pistol and hiding it behind his back. "... are... you... Hydra?"

Still, no answer came, and Peter hung his head in shame with his voice trembling underneath his breath, making a series of inaudible whimpers, lips quivering. Something in Happy's gut twisted, and without knowing what came over him, he placed the pistol down.

Before he could speak, the door clicked, and opened slowly, grabbing the attention of the two of them. Natasha walked inside, the heels of her combat boots clicking on the metal floor, holding a tablet in her hands. "I need to talk to him alone." she said calmly, waiting for Happy to exit until closing the door once more.

***

Fear was something Peter had never felt before in his life, and it was something he prayed that he would never experience again. It wasn't that he would be physically harmed - which was impossible - but that more people would see him as the monster he was. That if people knew about his past, that his chance at a normal life would be gone forever.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents he'd killed through no one's means but his own haunted him, and despite the fact that Peter knew he deserved punishment, addressing it directly made him feel violently ill.

Peter always found it strange whenever he went to school and people treated him the way they did. Ned, Abe and Charles saw him as a friend - like one of their own. The teachers spoke to him like they wanted to help him. But all that went against his nature. He wasn't supposed to have a name, or a life. The only purpose he had was to kill.

"You've met FitzSimmons, haven't you." Natasha observed, stating it as a fact instead of asking, causing Peter to look up at her in shock. She presented the tablet to him, which had one of the forged pictures of his life. Peter was standing with his parents, smiling, having the life he never had. "I know you aren't who you say you are, but if Coulson and his team are helping you, you clearly aren't a threat. I noticed you aren't in any of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s databases. It's like you popped into the world out of nowhere. So, where'd you come from? I'd guess you were in witness protection, but if that was true, they wouldn't be keeping this from Fury."

Peter let out a breath that he had no idea that he'd been holding, and he sunk back in the lie detector, forgetting about the cuffs around his wrists. Effortlessly, he broke them off from the arms of the chair, placing his hands in his lap without giving it a second thought, preparing to tell his story to someone for the very first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update this thing. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer, and as per usual, feedback/criticism is appreciated since I'm always looking to improve. Anyways, stay safe, wash your hands, get well soon if you're sick, and I hope you all have a great day!
> 
> (and play video games)
> 
> -Petermanspideyparker


	13. Chapter 13

"The first time I woke up - well, the first time I remember waking up - I felt MJ's hand on my face. I didn't know who she was or what she was doing, but it felt... comforting. I felt like I could trust her. As far as first memories go, I'm glad it was her. Even now, MJ's one of the few things to make me feel something good.

"I try to do whatever I can to keep that going, but nothing else works as good as being with her. When she first spoke to me, I couldn't understand her. I just thought it was what people were supposed to do. So, I tried to copy her. The only thing I was able to say was her name. But then I started listening. I could hear more people talking outside the room, and even though it made no sense to me, it sounded like people were going to try and hurt her.

"I just did what felt natural to me. I just started killing them. I - I regret the things I did to those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, but the only time I actually remember attacking people... it's when I was the most like myself. No matter how hard I try to be like everyone else in school, it feels wrong.

"I have to treat everything and everyone like they're made out of glass. If I get too excited, I'm afraid I might forget about my strength and accidentally hurt someone... or worse. When I run with Ned, I have to make sure I don't use my speed. When I get hit on the football field, I have to roll with it or else they might break every bone in their body. It kind of drives me crazy sometimes; not being able to feel things.

"Pain isn't the only thing I can't feel. Warmth... the cold... I barely notice it when May hugs me before she goes to work. I wasn't supposed to be a real person, so Hydra didn't have a reason to make me feel most things. Believe me, I tried. Putting my hand in the flame of a Bunsen burner during chemistry, I felt nothing. I sneaked outside when MJ was asleep so I could see what I could feel.

"I started running at brick walls, and I'd go right through. I didn't have a scratch, and it didn't hurt at all. Then I started getting more intense. Jumping off of buildings head first, sticking my hand into wood chippers I found in people’s backyards, using acid I found in some of the chemistry labs. Nothing ever hurt me.

"Then I thought the only thing that could hurt me was me. I tried hitting myself... I came so close to feeling something strong, but it didn't work. If Hydra was trying to give me some kind of curse, they couldn't have done a better job. I want to live, but I'm worried that I might never die. That I might never have a chance to rest like everyone else.

"B - but you can't tell MJ about this! About any of it! I don't want to know what she'd think about me if she did. And especially not that Fury person. Coulson warned me about him, said he wanted to leave me behind with Hydra. If he found out about me... I don't want to go back to being an experiment."

For the first time in what felt like hours, Peter looked up from his lap to see that Natasha hadn't moved a muscle from when she walked into the interrogation room, having a neutral expression on her face that was impossible to read. He couldn't tell if she was angry or not. There was no smile, no frown, and not even blinking.

He was certain that she was going to turn him over to Fury. Although Peter had yet to cross paths with the man he'd heard so much about, an image of cruelty was what materialized whenever he came to mind. If that man was in control, Peter feared the worst for not only himself, but Coulson and the rest of the people who helped him.

"Other than Hydra, Coulson's team, and MJ," she finally began, looking at him in a way that made his stomach drop. "Who else knows about you? Any of your classmates? This Ned of yours? The woman who lives across the hall?"

"No!" he exclaimed immediately, shaking his head violently. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean... what would you do if you found out your best friend was some kind of freak? Ned would probably never speak to me again. And if I can't tell him I can't tell anyone."

People finding out about his origins was something Peter had thought of many times when he couldn't sleep at night (which he always found himself unable to do), and none of his scenarios ended well.

Based on previous experience, people would run and hide from him. Aunt May would probably regret helping him. His teachers would never look at him again. And the decathlon team - the people whose friendship meant the most to him - he didn't even want to think about their reaction.

"Good. The less they know, the better." Natasha said, falsifying his results from the lie detector on the Holotable and deleting the footage, giving the impression that he'd passed. "We'll talk later today. In the meantime, you can join the rest of the class."

She gestured towards the door, which unlocked with an almost silent click. Peter looked quickly between the woman and the exit, not knowing what to make of the interaction.

"You're not going to -"

"Fury isn't going to find out." she cut him off. "You can trust us, Peter. Now hurry up. People are going to be wondering why it's taking you so long. If they ask, tell them the machine had to be recalibrated."

With that, he stood up from the chair, dashing out of the interrogation room and disappearing before Natasha's very eyes. Racing down the empty halls of the basement, Peter desperately searched for his class, not knowing how to thank her for what she'd done for him.

***

"Where the fuck is Parker?" Flash asked impatiently for the fifth time in a row, pacing back and forth in front of the other students who were all sitting in the waiting room. While everyone glared at him at first, they too were beginning to grumble. Everyone except for MJ and Ned.

She knew what was happening. Peter was no doubt caught by now, and she didn't even get the chance to try and help him. With her phone confiscated and the rest of the class watching, there was no opportunity to try and contact Natasha, or Steve, or anyone else who could have helped. MJ couldn't have explained to Happy either during her session, as it would have been recorded and uploaded to a S.H.I.E.L.D. server.

MJ kept pretending to rub her eyes in frustration, but in reality wiping away her tears that wouldn't stop coming.

"Don't worry about it, _Eugene_." Ned sneered, causing the smaller boy to grow red with anger. "It's not Peter's fault that he's taking so long. Besides, it's not even ten o'clock. Or have you forgotten how to tell time again?"

"Shut up, Leeds!" Flash snapped, storming towards the door that they weren't permitted to open unless told otherwise. The second he opened it, he walked into the wall that was Happy Hogan, getting knocked down to the floor as the bearded man stood over him with an unimpressed look on his face.

"Congratulations," he said, handing over a clipboard to Liz. "you've all officially been granted access to the Avengers Tower. I've got a few more things to attend to, but Mrs. Stark tells me that Liz is perfectly capable of giving the tour."

_'All?'_ MJ thought to herself, a feeling of hope stirring in the bottom of her stomach. Happy stepped aside, revealing that Peter was standing behind him with a smile on his face, hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans, appearing to be all right. It was worth noting however that he'd gone through a wind tunnel, his hair a complete mess (far more than usual).

'Where were you?!" Flash exclaimed once more, getting up off of the floor with the groan, dusting himself off. "None of us took that long! If I didn't know any better I'd say you were hiding something!"

"That's enough, Flash." Mr. Harrington dismissed him in an exasperated tone, heading out of the waiting room with a tired limp, followed by the rest of the decathlon team, leaving Peter and MJ behind.

Without thinking, MJ was running at him with a massive grin plastered on her face as she threw her arms around him, placing her chin on the top of his head while trying and failing to contain her laughter. They stood there in the middle of the doorway, swaying on the spot, and Peter carefully responded so he wouldn't hurt her.

"You're okay!" she cried happily. "You passed?"

"That's what S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks." Peter's voice came out slightly mumbled as his face was buried in her shoulder. "Things would have gone a lot differently if Natasha didn't show up. She told me that my secret was safe with the Avengers."

MJ pulled away slightly to get a good look at him, letting out a sigh of relief after seeing that there wasn't a single scratch on him. Despite the fact that it would have been impossible, it still made her feel better. She then raised her hand towards his face, pushing a single curl away that had fallen into one of his eyes.

"Peter! Michelle!" Harrington called out from the end of the hall. "You guys coming?"

"Coming!" they responded in unison, hearing the door to the stairs close behind their teacher. Instead of pulling away, Peter held onto her, and in the blink of an eye, they were in the empty lobby of Avengers Tower before anyone else. MJ clutched onto her stomach, feeling something far different than hope. Out of nowhere, Peter held a garbage can in his hands which she threw up into as he patted her back softly.

"Sorry. I - I wasn't thinking."

"No... big... deal." MJ said between coughs, feeling her entire body contract, wiping her lip with her sleeve once she finished. "I'll get used to it eventually."

Their fellow classmates didn't arrive for another ten minutes, which gave them more than enough time to dispose of the garbage can and go over the events that transpired during his lie detector test. When they did arrive, they were all beginning to sweat, coming out of the stairwell to see the two of them. Flash - of course - was infuriated.

"How the fuck did you get here before us?! We were ahead of you both!"

"I have super speed." Peter shrugged innocently, which no one took seriously. She couldn't remember a time when he actually joked about his powers. Probably out of fear that people would have believed him. But maybe it was a good response on his behalf. After that, no one asked any follow-up questions.

Composing herself, Liz took out a key card from one of her pockets and held it up to a panel on the elevator. The small red light beeped and turned to green, the large silver doors sliding open to reveal a container that was big enough to fit all ten students and single teacher, and even had a significant amount of room left over.

If they'd been able to fix the elevator in that amount of time, they must have been downstairs longer than MJ had realized. Thank God for that. MJ was in good enough shape to take the stairs all day, and of course Peter. Maybe even Ned and Flash since they played football every day. But everyone else - especially Harrington with his bad knee - would have had a hard time.

"So, I think we should go over this one more time. Obviously, we don't have enough time or permission to go everywhere." Liz said. "But I was able to narrow it down to a few of the important places. The first floor we'll be visiting is one of the labs. It's all research and development, no weapons. Then we've been giving access to some of the training facilities, as well as the hanger. Once we're done there, we'll be given free roam of the upper ten floors for the rest of the day. Because the questioning took so long, we had to cut the visit to the Arc Reactor out. I assumed it was what would disappoint you all the least."

An assumption that was correct. At least from MJ's point of view. The first time she'd seen an Arc Reactor was when she was six years old. It didn't impress her then, and it didn't now. Why people would want to see a gigantic battery on display always puzzled her.

The training facilities were the floors that she visited the most, all of which were modeled after the ones at S.H.I.E.L.D. However, the ones belonging to the Avengers were far more welcoming, and ended with far less broken bones. It was the closest thing she had to a happy place. MJ often fantasized about beating Eugene _Flash _Thompson during combat training.

Unhealthy? Possibly.

Her favourite pastime? Absolutely.

The elevator came to a sudden stop on the forty-first floor, the door opening after a quiet ding. It wasn't just Flash who rushed outside. MJ couldn't tell who else bumped her as they passed by excitedly, but she certainly couldn't blame them. If the Avengers weren't like a second family to her, she had no doubt that she would have acted the same way.

The researchers could be clearly seen beyond a glass wall, separating the class from them. Students were pressed up against the glass, trying to get a closer look at what they were doing. MJ recognized some of the prototypes that were developed by FitzSimmons on The Bus. Some could also be seen taking apart Hydra tech that she stole herself on a few missions. To anyone else, they would have appeared to be innocent objects, not gadgets created by a terrorist organization.

"We can't go in there." Liz chimed in, much to the disappointment of everyone. "They set up a room for us where one of the employees can take us through some pre-approved technology that we're allowed to handle. Everything else being built right now could be a potential danger for outsiders, and we'd just get in their way. It's just down the hall."

The senior led them down the corridor that was growing increasingly dark, far away from anything significant. Come to think of it, MJ wasn't sure if she'd ever been to that area of the tower before. Based on the dust collecting on the floors and the lights lacking the same brightness as the others, the caretakers of the building rarely came here too.

Liz didn't even have to use her key card to open the door, letting the class pile into what looked to be an old conference room. With a large table in the middle that had a series of inventions set upon it and enough chairs for each of them surrounding it, the students were greeted by a woman in her mid-thirties in a lab coat.

Her name was right on the tip of MJ's tongue. She was certain that it was Jenn... or maybe Jill. Jamie, perhaps? It definitely began with a 'J'. MJ had seen her many times, but never interacted with her. Usually because she was busy scolding Uncle Clint and Thor after they got their hands on their equipment. The Asgardian kept going on and on about how primitive it was compared to that of his home. The archer simply wanted to play with them.

"Good morning. My name is Dr. Michelle Chen, and welcome to Stark Industries."

Definitely not a 'J'.

Whatever the other Michelle was saying, MJ didn't hear a single word of it, instead choosing to tune her out. Ignoring people was something she found herself quite good at from a young age. On several occasions, her father's lectures would come off as mumbles, while the parts she was interested would be heard as clear as a bell.

MJ doubted that she would be captivated by anything during the presentation. After all, she wouldn't be learning anything new. It would be like the Queen of England getting a tour of Buckingham Palace. Tremendously boring - at least until Uncle Clint crawled out from one of the vents on the floor, completely covered in dust and dirt from head to toe, flashing MJ a knowing smirk.

"How's it going, kiddos?" he asked in an exaggerated tone, and Dr. Chen's eyes darkened before them. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"As a matter of fact, you are, Mr. Barton." she responded, crouching down slightly to look inside the vent. "Please tell me Mr. Thor isn't with you this time."

Clint pulled up and extra chair and sat himself between Peter and MJ, placing his boots up onto the once clean table, much to the disapproval of Dr. Chen. He just continued to smile like a child, his ego clearly growing larger by the second with the class in awe of his presence.

"Believe me, I tried to bring him along, since I know how much you love it when we're hanging out with you. But he was too scared to use the vent. Tony was able to convince him that it was a portal to hell. It's hilarious! Change the temperature just a little bit, and he hides in his room! I mean, I love the guy, but he's real gullible... so what are we up to? I see we've got ourselves some toys."

"For the last time, Mr. Barton," she said, forcefully pushing his feet off of the table, keeping a close eye on both the Avenger and the tech. "these... are not... toys."

"My kids would tell you different." Before the doctor could protest, he reached for the nearest gadget on the table, passing it to Ned with a wink. "Have at it, kid. I don't know what it does, but if I've learned anything from watching the science bros, it's this: Press the colourful buttons until something good happens, and adding the word 'quantum' to the beginning of anything makes it _sciencey_."

Clint then proceeded to pass out the inventions as if he was Santa Claus, giving a piece of advice to each of the students - including Mr. Harrington - as he did so. Needless to say; it could never be applied to real life. But it still gave them a good laugh, and visibly pissed off the other Michelle.

"Mr. Barton, could you please just tell me what you're doing here?"

"Well, when a little birdie told me that we were having visitors today, I just couldn't refuse. Besides, what's the point of coming to Avengers Tower if you're not going to get something good out of it? That being said, I believe it's my duty as a public servant to give these kids the best field trip they could possibly get. Starting with me taking over the tour!"


	14. Chapter 14

There were only a handful of places in Avengers Tower that Tony was absolutely certain Fury didn't bug. It wasn't that he didn't trust the man - especially after how long they'd known each other and how much they'd been through together. The real problem was that Fury didn't trust Tony - or anyone for that matter.

The so-called "world's greatest spy" had hidden surveillance equipment in all of the closets, hallway's, bathrooms, and even the bedrooms. Pepper was actually the first person to figure out that something was amiss. From that moment on, Tony had Jarvis scan every inch of the tower on a daily basis, but even then, the results weren't always conclusive.

His trust for Fury slowly deteriorated after that day. The only places Jarvis regularly confirmed clean went as follows: the basement in its entirety, the meeting room, and finally, Tony's private workshop.

No one else was allowed to go inside his workshop. Not even Pepper. It could only be accessed from a private elevator that only Tony and Jarvis knew the location of. Another benefit was that there was only a single way in or out, having no windows.

"The room is secure, sir." Jarvis announced as Tony pulled up a chair to the desk and entering his password. "What can I do for you on this lovely morning?"

"I'd like to open a new file on my private server, stored under the name _Parker._ As far as Ms. Romanoff tells me, S.H.I.E.L.D. can't get their hands on this information. Until further notice, not a word of this leaves the room, got it?"

"Absolutely. Now, tell me, what is so important that requires Director Fury be kept in the dark? I was under the impression that the two of you were done keeping secrets from each other."

With a few clicks of the mouse, Tony pulled up the tower's security footage up on the screen, his eyes scanning over the various rooms quickly before landing on the training room. Gathered in front of Barton was the class mentioned by Liz earlier.

"Someone who might need our help. Forget about everything else and focus on camera sixteen on the forty-first floor." The screen flashed briefly, and was then filled with the training room, giving a perfect angle for Tony to see the kid, although it was still a little blurry. "Zoom in on the boy next to Ms. Jones."

With the possibility that Fury was listening, Natasha didn't have much time to inform him of the situation. She had to be incredibly vague in her explanation, meaning Tony had to bring himself up to speed. What he did know was that Hydra had supposedly created their own super-powered boy, and he was currently living with MJ.

Needless to say, Tony was a bit skeptical. Hydra had resources and passable brains working for them, but building a person from scratch - even in this day and age - was impossible. Hoping for answers, he was able to take a sample of the boy's fingerprints from the lie detector to find out how much of that statement was true.

"Jarvis, I want you to get me everything you can from Hydra's files about him. I've also provided you with his fingerprints. I need you to look for a possible match.

If Tony's hunch was correct, this Peter Parker was more of a clone than he was a new creation. He probably wasn't a direct copy, but Hydra would have required a DNA sample to build from. Whatever powers he possessed could have easily been added later in the process, as well as any features they desired.

From his previous attempts at breaking into the Hydra servers, Tony found that even Jarvis had a difficult time getting information; hence the reason the Avengers needed to go to the facilities in person. They also found that Hydra kept their more sensitive information on paper. Jarvis providing files on Peter was a long shot.

"Sir, I've only come up with one match for the fingerprints. I must inform you that it's only a partial one, but there's definitely a relation between the two. It's also worth mentioning that he's recently deceased - three month's today to be exact."

"Tell me about him." Tony commanded, scanning the boy through the security camera.

"The partial match is to a Mr. Benjamin Parker. He joined the United States Army when he turned eighteen, and was honorably discharged sixteen years later. Records indicate he died in a car crash back in August, however his remains were never identified amongst the other victims. I can confirm that his widow still resides in Queens, and lives across the hall from Ms. Jones."

Next to the live footage of Peter, an image of Ben appeared. The two held a passing resemblance - but not identical - both having the same unnaturally pale complexion, unkempt brown hair, and similar builds. Ben was slightly taller, and instead of brown eyes, his were blue. There was something about their facial expressions that were close as well, but because of the age difference, more similarities were harder to pick up on.

If Hydra couldn't use a DNA sample from a super-powered individual, Ben Parker might as well have been a prime candidate for creating soldiers. According to the file, he obeyed orders, took responsibility for his actions, and was a skilled marksman. How much of Ben was put into Peter was unknown.

"Any idea what kind of powers the kid has?"

"Fortunately, that information was easy to find. Apparently, his skin and bones are made from a synthetic vibranium created by Hydra. For reasons I can't explain, it's far stronger. They tested him with a vibranium bullet, and not even that was able to pierce his skin. The boy is nearly invulnerable, and possess great strength - the limit of which has never been tested. Hydra was able to partially recreate their experiment with the Maximoff twins, resulting in great speed. Originally, they wished to give him Ms. Maximoff's telekinesis, but failed. I'm currently reading that he was created too soon due to an accident in the laboratory. Gideon Malick asked the scientists to program the boy with aggression, loyalty to Hydra, a complete lack of empathy, and a series of orders. Other than aggression, they didn't have the opportunity to program anything else, and it would have been too costly to start again. That's all I'm able to access at the moment."

Tony directed his attention back onto the class, seeing that Thor had now joined them. Every child there was staring at the Asgardian as if he was made out of pure gold while he presented his hammer proudly.

He couldn't hear what was being said, but without giving any warning, he tossed Mjölnir towards Clint. The archer caught it by the handle immediately, pulling him down to the ground as Thor laughed endearingly.

***

"I told you, my friend" Thor's voice boomed, practically shaking the entire room by itself. "there are no tricks behind Mjölnir. No matter how hard you pull, it will not move unless you are worthy."

"So, we're just going to forget the time _you _weren't worthy?" Clint shot back at him with a grin, springing to his feet, leaving the hammer on the floor with the handle pointed in the air. "If I remember correctly, you just kept pulling until you realized it wouldn't work. Seriously though, how can you just _become _worthy? I'll bet the kids would love to know."

MJ found that lifting Thor's hammer was less of a debate topic amongst the Avengers than the public believed. They all tried to lift it, everyone except for Steve was unsuccessful, they all let it go. Uncle Clint was the only one too stubborn for his own good.

She had to bet that he made an attempt at least ten times per week. Personally, MJ never cared to try.

"First of all, I was incredibly selfish as a boy. And as you can plainly see, I'm more than able to wield the power now. Second of all, there's no one way that you can be worthy. That decision is up to Mjölnir." He then turned back to the class, having a look on his face that MJ was all-too-familiar with. "Who wants to try and lift it first?"

She must have been the only one who wasn't lining up to be the first one. Even Mr. Harrington appeared to be just as eager to test his worthiness. Much to her surprise, it wasn't Flash, but Peter and Ned who ended up first in line. By her own choice, MJ was last.

Thor placed his large hand on Peter's shoulder, leading him towards the hammer and saying "Wonderful! But I would like to make a few things clear. If any of you are able to lift it, you of course get to rule Asgard. While you may possess my power, that doesn't mean you get to call yourself _Thor._ Unlike the rest of my co-workers, my Avenger name is my real name. Trying to claim it would be completely ridiculous. Do you understand?"

Peter nodded in agreement, rolling up his sleeves and placing both of his hands on the handle. Without putting in any effort, he pulled, and for the first time in his life, Peter couldn't move something.

It was as if he couldn't grasp the concept that his strength couldn't help him, even after Thor himself stated it. Peter's brows furrowed, pulling even harder, but that still made no difference. MJ never saw him like this before, actually using his muscle for something, noticing that his feet were beginning to sink into the floor ever so slightly. Once he too realized this, he stopped with a huff.

"I can't even move it." he said in disbelief.

"And there's no shame in that." Thor reassured him. "Some of the bravest people I know aren't even worthy by Mjölnir's standards."

Everyone after Peter had the same amount of luck as he had. Ned laughed it off after his attempt, which he only tried to do with one hand. His logic was that there was no point of fatiguing himself. If he wasn't worthy, it wouldn't budge. Abe and Charles tried together, claiming that physics could save them, but still found themselves defeated.

Flash in usual fashion was the most obnoxious, boasting after everyone else failed and claiming that he would make them look like idiots. MJ never felt more satisfied when he spent over five minutes pulling, which amounted to nothing.

Her turn came soon after, and quite frankly, she wasn't going to try, because she still didn't care about the power. With the rest of the team watching, MJ knew that she would have to make it look like she tried.

Stepping up like everyone else who tried before her, she grabbed the handle and turned her back to the group, proceeding to make a series of frustrated grunts, trying to twist the hammer instead of lifting.

Then something happened that only she could see, muffled by the noise she made by herself. Mjölnir moved, making a barely noticeable squeak on the floor as it turned. MJ stopped in shock, lifting it less than an inch off the ground which hopefully wasn't seen.

Placing it down carefully, she shrugged, wearing her usual expressionless face.

"Worth a shot, I guess."

***

The entire decathlon team seemed to separate once they got to the top ten floors of the tower and were given free roam. Even Ned and MJ ran off the moment the elevator reached the eighty-something floor. Peter was left all by himself, wandering from hall to hall aimlessly.

He wasn't particularly interested in what else the building had to offer. The only thing he'd been looking forward to all day was meeting the Avengers, and aside from limited interactions with a few of them, Peter failed to get the one-on-one time he coveted.

Granted, Clint seemed made the tour worthwhile. Peter on the other hand didn't pay much attention, drifting along with the group, pretending to listen while instead daydreaming about his first actual football game tomorrow.

As he turned the corner, he was stopped by Natasha, who placed a hand over his mouth and held up a finger to her lips, signaling for him to be quiet. She looked over her shoulder before quickly pulling him into an elevator, pressing the button for the basement.

"I told you we'd talk later." she said once they reached their destination. "MJ had to help Tony and me gather the others without anyone finding out. Fury might have been listening to us."

When Peter imagined Avengers meetings, he pictured something far more formal than gathering behind the Arc Reactor. But even with the setting, he was left starstruck by the presence of the rest of earth's mightiest heroes.

At first, none of them spoke. The only one who made any move was the Scarlet Witch, whose eyes were glowing with a type of red mist originating from her hands, orbiting Peter's head.

"W- what are you doing?" he stammered, his nervous state caused by the fact he was standing before one of his favourite Avengers, and the mystery of the action she was performing.

"Making sure your head is clean." Tony responded. "As far as the files claim, Hydra was planning to have you programmed. We need to be sure that you're not going to turn on us."

Seconds after the words were uttered, the red magic faded, and Wanda turned to the team and nodded.

"There wasn't much to go through. Almost his entire life has been wiped from his memory. Hydra has no control over him."

"Good." Bucky muttered from the corner in a soft voice, looking down at the floor. Peter noticed that his left hand was gloved, covering up the metal arm given to him by Hydra. Bucky may have only spoken a single word, yet he couldn't fight the smile spreading to his face.

"MJ told us everything." Steve said. "We're going to try and help you in whatever way we can. Fury or Hydra won't be able to get their hands on you if we have anything to say about it."

"But we also need to do some more research into your abilities." Bruce interjected. "Without knowing your limits or what you're capable of, you might end up doing more harm than good. I might even be able to help you get a handle on some of that aggression you have."

Peter couldn't believe his ears. He'd been imagining how the conversation would be going all day, and his mind never went to a place like this. It was like they were treating him like one of their own, welcoming him into their home without a second thought, promising to protect him. The feeling was... intoxicating. Something he could get used to.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This went on for way longer than I expected.

MJ had a feeling that her parents were ignoring her - more than usual, that is.

The last mission she was sent on was to investigate Peter just over a week ago, and since the disagreement they had regarding to help him or not, Fury, Hill, or anyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. for that matter had made any effort to contact her (except for her father on Peter's first day of school, but in her mind, that didn't count).

MJ's schedule remained more or less the same; uneventful. Waking up at six o'clock on the dot, stretching, and then doing her normal routine of push-ups and sit-ups. The only difference was she didn't have to have excruciating conversations with Fury, and because of that, MJ didn't loathe waking up.

From her point of view, all was right with the world.

After completing her final set, her phone began to ring from its resting place on the nightstand, and just like that, MJ's happy state was destroyed.

"Fuck you, dad." she cursed under her breath, getting up from the floor with a groan.

Unlike every other morning, she didn't hurry to pick it up, instead taking her time and letting it continue to ring. There was something inside her that felt foreign. For some reason, she wasn't as eager to please her father as usual.

His approval didn't seem to be as important now as it used to be. MJ's parents were easily the only people who had an opinion she cared about, but it wasn't like they gave her a reason for that. The only good memories of them she had were from her childhood - years before they stuck her in the apartment.

No matter the case, MJ kept crawling back to them every time, hoping that it would be different. Finally - better late than never - MJ was starting to learn.

"What do you want?" she answered. Her voice came off a little too disrespectful in her mind, but she wouldn't dare take it back. In fact, it made her feel better than usual, a small smirk making its way onto her face.

"Who was your first kill?" Fury asked, getting straight to the point of confirming her identity.

MJ thought back to the first time her parents tested her, the time where she first realized how distant they were becoming from each other.

Some parts were a bit of a blur in her mind. She couldn't have been older than eleven at the time, standing in a white, spotless room that was always kept clean, reserved for these types of things. With her parents behind her and a gun in her hand, MJ's eyes were glued to a man tied up in the corner with a bag over his head, tears in her eyes.

They must have been there for hours, only a few sentences being spoken back and forth.

"Who is he?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What did he do?"

"It doesn't matter."

Nothing else was ever said, and if it was, MJ couldn't remember. She thought if she did what her parents asked, things would be able to go back to normal. At the same time, she never wanted to hurt anyone.

Eventually, Maria kneeled in front of her daughter with a sweet smile on her face, wiping the tears away from her cheek. MJ always felt safest around her mother, but never again after that day.

The woman she believed she could trust suddenly slapped her across the face with her ring hand, breaking the little girl's lip. Maria still said nothing, but gave her one more look which seemed to say 'do it' while holding her hand up again as a warning.

MJ pulled the trigger immediately, a bullet going right between the eyes.

"It doesn't matter." her response finally came.

"Good. There won't be any need for you to attend school this morning. A vehicle will be waiting for you outside your apartment in half an hour. That will be all -"

"But dad!" she interjected before he could hang up this time. Already hearing the growl of disapproval on the other end, MJ corrected herself, looking down at the floor in shame. "Sir... i- it's just that... there's a football game at our school tonight, and -"

"And _what__?" _

_And I have to go so I can make sure that Peter - the boy you told me not to help, and who happens to be living with me - doesn't kill or seriously injure someone when he's out on the field. Oh! And he's probably going to be going to a party afterwards, and he lacks the emotional maturity to be left all by himself!_

"Nothing." she surrendered. "I'll see you soon."

MJ groaned to herself, leaving the phone on the nightstand and falling back onto the bed.

She knew that this would end up happening eventually. Being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was her first priority, and her studies came next. But every time the thought of leaving Peter alone - even for an hour - entered her mind, she dismissed it.

There was still too much that MJ didn't know about him in order to prepare for a situation like this, and there were many, _many _gaps in Peter's knowledge that would have resulted in disaster if he didn't have someone to guide him through everyday life.

Football was the least of her worries. She'd watched him practice enough times to put her mind at ease. Most of the time, Peter was too fast for someone to catch up with him, and he came into minimal contact with the other players. On the rare occasion he was tackled, no one was injured.

The real concern was the party, and with MJ gone, there would be nothing to stop him from going.

MJ despised these student get-togethers. Not because she was a bit of an introvert (although that was certainly a contributing factor), but because her classmates were idiots.

Actually, idiots was an understatement.

For all Midtown's academic achievements, people still behaved as regular teenagers did. Mass gatherings without parents consistently involved underage drinking, ill-advised hookups, and sometimes drugs. Even if the people planning the parties had good intentions and an acceptable brain, uninvited guests would come and mess things up.

Despite the fact that drugs (legal or illegal) and alcohol probably wouldn't have an effect on Peter and his immune system, that wasn't the type of crowd she wanted him to hang out with.

Plus, _Gwen_ would be there.

_Gwen,_ MJ growled under her breath. No one was allowed to date Peter; that was a fact. Knowing what she knew about the insufferable blonde, giving her an opportunity to make a move on him would not end well.

Peter knew nothing about the important things like being in a relationship or sexual consent or even sex in general. The thought of Gwen Stacy luring him into a situation where he didn't know he had the right to say 'no' made MJ throw up in her mouth.

She made a mental note to give him the dreaded _talk _once she got back from the mission. Half an hour wasn't enough time.

That being said, it would have been extremely irresponsible for her to leave Peter without supervision, and it seemed to be impossible to get a sitter on such short notice. MJ needed someone good. Someone who tried their best to do the right thing. Someone who would never touch drugs or alcohol. Someone who had Peter's best interests at heart.

"Ned." MJ said to herself, getting up and scrolling down to his contact on her phone. Of course, telling him every detail was out of the question. She would need to be vague. Just calling to make sure he looked out for his best friend on a night that might go awry.

***

"You're leaving?" Peter asked in a confused voice while following MJ to the door, already wearing his number seven blue and gold jersey under the still-foul-smelling red hoodie.

Halfway through opening the door, she came to a stop, turning back on her heel to look down on him.

"I'll only be a couple of days at most." she reassured him. "I talked to Ned a few minutes ago about looking after you. You'll be fine. Just as long as you listen to what he says."

Peter had woken up in a good mood that morning. For starters, it was the first time he'd been able to sleep in days, so it was really the first good mood he'd ever woken up in. Second of all, there was the football game after school.

For unknown reasons, football came naturally to Peter to a point where he felt like he didn't have to use his powers. It was like an instinct. Like part of his body had gone through the motions before. And aside from Flash, everyone on the team liked him. They weren't as nice as the decathlon team, but if they didn't curse, glare, or try to bump into him in the halls, he considered them to be good people.

Until MJ sprung the news after their quick breakfast that she would be leaving for a mission, Peter was happy.

"And... Peter..." MJ said, bending down slightly and kissing him on the cheek. "Good luck today" She hid her face from him that was glowing red. Bemused, he watched her leave the apartment and enter the elevator, tracing his hand on the place where she kissed him.

Peter didn't know what to think. He'd witnessed Ned and Betty perform the same action plenty of times, and given their friendliness towards one another, it must have meant something good. At the very least he knew it wasn't terrible.

He was still standing in the doorway with a hand on his cheek when Aunt May exited her apartment - the jingle of her keys locking the door bringing him back to reality.

"Oh, good morning Peter! I didn't know you were spending the night here; I would have said 'hi'."

Aunt May and Peter had an encounter every day, but MJ emphasized that she couldn't know the extent of their living arrangement. Every once in a while, they had to keep the illusion going that he lived with his parents. Peter enjoyed being right across the hall from her, but he would have liked her to know it. He got the sense that she wanted to be around him as much as he did her.

"Yeah, my... mom and dad are out of town for the weekend."

"They seem to be leaving a lot lately. I know it isn't any of my business, but is everything okay at home?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" His response came far too quickly, and it was obvious he was being defensive. Peter would have simply said 'yes', but that would have been a lie. He couldn't lie right to May's face.

"I just want to make sure you're doing okay. Even if you are, I'd be happy to help you out at home in any way I can. After all, big moves can be rough. It actually reminds me of a problem Ben had when he was your age. No matter what was happening, he could never swallow his pride and ask for help."

She smiled sadly, pulling him into a hug which he reciprocated immediately. Peter could feel that she was shaking, holding onto him tightly while struggling to stop herself from shedding tears. May managed to strengthen her resolve, pulling away to look at him.

"It's been nice... having you around. You look just like him. I think he would have liked to meet you."

Peter hated seeing her sad. Even though May was smiling, he'd seen her like this enough times to know how she really felt. Whenever Ben came into the conversation, she couldn't control her emotions.

But May seemed to brighten up whenever he reminded her of her late husband. Maybe that was why she liked having him around so often. Why Peter relished being in her company was still a mystery to him.

***

MJ slid into the back seat of the black tinted SUV that was parked out on the sidewalk of her apartment building, closing the door quickly to make sure that no one passing by was able to get a good look at her face.

She gazed into the driver's mirror, and immediately felt her heart sink once she realized who else was in the vehicle with her. Trying her best to mask her fear, Michelle straightened her posture and folded her hands in her lap obediently.

"Seat belt." the woman commanded, and she quickly followed the order, apologizing timidly.

The SUV began to accelerate, pulling away from the sidewalk and joining the rest of the flowing traffic.

As always, they were skipping any pleasantries. Michelle wanted her to ask how she was doing, but knew that it was pointless to dwell on those kinds of thoughts. A small part of her was urging her to speak up first. The rest was too afraid, and killed that part in an instant.

Speeding through the yellow light, she looked back through the one-way window, seeing that they had missed the turn that would have taken them to the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility.

"I'm dropping you off at the airport. You're only going to hear this briefing once, so you'd better be paying attention. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, mom -" she croaked. "Y- yes, ma'am."

"Good. As you know, Gideon Malick is the owner of a company called Gothite Industries, and he uses its revenue to finance his activities within Hydra. Tonight, he's holding a fundraiser in Berlin, Germany. You're going strictly to gather intel. We want all the names of people donating, as well as anything you can find on Malick. One of Stark's private jets is waiting for, along with your alias and an appropriate change of clothing for the event. You should get there in approximately six hours, which would give you plenty of time. It starts eleven hours from now. If the mission goes south, you have permission to kill anyone who's preventing your getaway, but hopefully you keep things clean."

The rest of the drive was filled with silence. Michelle was left with her thoughts dwelling on Peter, wondering if his first day without her was going smoothly.

***

The school morning passed by quite slowly, although that was fairly normal for Peter and Ned. After Mr. Harrington's class, everything seemed to go downhill from there. English was always seen as their break, and due to the carelessness of Ms. Wallace, they could chat or play cards all period. That went out the window once the substitute noticed them.

Computer Science was a waste as always. They considered it to be a lucky day if they managed to do any programming, even if it was for a few minutes. Their teacher had a habit of going off topic with stories about his cousin's children. Why he thought it was a good idea to bore the class with irrelevant stories rather than do school work was beyond them.

Then there was chemistry - a class universally hated in Midtown, especially by Peter and Ned.

Unlike the rest of their classes, it wasn't the teachers they had a problem with, but that they had to share a station with Flash Thompson. He would copy off their work, try to get them in trouble every ten minutes, and (while he denied it) purposefully spilled chemicals on them.

Finally, lunch had arrived, and Peter was at his usual table with Ned, Betty, and an empty space reserved for MJ to read and ignore them. It was far from an excitable affair; the entire break was spent studying for a coming test, catching up on homework, or eating the school's disgusting food (that's how Ned described it, but Peter never found a problem with it).

"I'll see you guys next period." Betty announced, getting up from the table and picking up her tray. "I have to meet up with Gwen for her to help out with her English assignment." She then bent down slightly and kissed Ned on the cheek, leaving Peter's best friend smiling like an idiot.

"What does that mean?" he asked once she was out of an earshot.

"What does what mean?"

"That." Peter said like it was obvious, pointing to his own cheek. "The thing Betty just did to your face."

"You're joking, right?" Ned laughed, half amused and half surprised. After some silence between the two of them, his smile faded, and he realized that Peter was genuinely asking what it meant. "How do you not - you know what? Never mind. It's uh... just what people do to show that they care about someone. It can mean you're really close with a family member, or you love someone romantically. Since I'm dating Betty, I hope to God that it's the second reason."

He wanted to press on and ask what _dating _actually meant, but Peter was worried that he would annoy Ned with another question - especially one that seemed to be general knowledge amongst the school's population. Instead, he nodded along, going back to not eating his lunch.

When Peter set foot in Midtown that morning, he found his excitement turn to nervousness.

Nervousness before a game must have been a tradition in football. Neither him or Ned had touched their food, and while they didn't speak of it, both knew the cause of the state they were in. At least the brief questioning was enough of a distraction from the game.

Peter wondered what people would have thought of them if they lost. He was already far from the most popular person in school, and there was only a handful of people he considered friends. Starting off with a loss might have meant disaster for him. The only ones Peter expected to forgive him if they lost them the game was Ned, Betty, and MJ.

Midtown was coming off of a losing season of football. They hadn't won a single game since they lost their last wide receiver; Carl Hammond, who was on the team at the University of Texas, and on the verge of going pro. No pressure to live up to that.

Peter looked over his shoulder to see the clock was at 12:30. Five minutes left until they had to get to their next class. And in just under six hours, they would be taking the field in front of the entire school.

***

"Are you sure you're old enough to be here, Miss... ?"

Michelle knew she stood out amongst the other guests the second she stepped into the hotel. She was a girl by herself, and every one else was a woman with a man by their side. Not one person Michelle found in the crowd was close to her age, making her look even more young by comparison.

She had never set foot in a place as magnificent as this hotel, let alone breathed the same air as the wealthy attendees.

"Watson." she said, presenting her invitation. "Mary Jane Watson."

It was clear as day that Michelle was out of her element. From the requirement of socializing to gain intel to the dress she was wearing, everything about the evening made her uncomfortable.

The point was to make herself look like a completely different person, just in case Hydra had access to her file. Michelle Jones never wore dresses back in New York, never carried a purse (and could never afford the one she was using), and would never be caught dead in a place like this.

For good measure, she dyed her hair red to separate the two identities, which would luckily wash off in the shower.

Michelle never had anything against dresses. She would never have claimed to hate them, but on a night like tonight - in the middle of autumn and winter - her clothing left her freezing, especially the small slit for her leg. The heels she had on were digging into her feet, and because of them, she was the tallest person in the room.

Given the advanced age of the men, they were beginning to shrink.

"Welcome, Miss Watson."

The young agent remembered her father's words, and took a straight path to the bar, placing her purse on the counter and taking a seat. Fury always said that the bar was where information got spilled the most, due to the inebriated state of the occupants.

"Can I get you anything?" the bartender asked in German. Thankfully, she was fluent.

"Just water, please."

She needed to stay sober for the evening. Anyone else at Midtown would have probably taken advantage of the fake ID she had in her possession, labelling her as twenty-one. The drinking age in this country may have been lower than in America, but that was the decision her parents had arrived at.

Before he could respond, he was waved off by a hand. The first detail she noticed was a red and gold signet ring with a symbol she couldn't make out, the owner of which placed a glass in front of Michelle and sat down at the bar.

She looked beside her to see a woman who couldn't have been much older than herself - twenty or twenty-one at most. The smile on her face flashed unnaturally white teeth surrounded by lips red as blood. The expression she wore may have been kind, but Michelle didn't trust her for a second.

"Sorry. You were the first person I've seen in this place who's close to my age, so I thought I'd introduce myself. Besides, I know how much these things can suck when you're here alone."

Michelle's eyes travelled up and down the woman, lingering a little too long on the ring which she realized contained a Hydra symbol, carved in black on top of the red jewel. Her first instinct was to run, but then she composed herself. Whoever this was could prove useful.

"Thank you." Michelle said, returning a fake smile and extending her hand. "I'm just glad that someone else here can speak English. I'm Mary Jane."

"Stephanie."

Now all she needed was a last name, and to find out how deep the connection with Hydra went.

***

The two football teams walked out onto the field where they were met with a mixture of cheers directed towards Midtown and boos for their opponent. Peter looked off into the bleachers that was a sea of blue and gold, smiling when he saw the rest of the decathlon team there.

Both sides congregated in the middle on top of the Tigers logo, and the captains of each team - Flash, and a man who made Ned look small - stepped up to the referee, glaring at each other.

"Captains shake hands." he reminded them, and they performed the action with disgust. The referee then took out a coin, showing them both sides, and then saying "Lions, you're the visiting team, so it's your call heads or tails?"

"Heads."

The coin was tossed into the air, and each person on the field had their eyes glued to it as it flipped repeatedly in the air before falling to the ground. The referee crouched down to get a closer look, and announced to the school "It's tails! Midtown's choice, do you want to kick or receive?"

"Receive."

As the teams retreated to their ends to get in position, Peter and Ned placed their helmets on and put in their mouth guards. Making sure that his cleats were tied tightly and his gloves were on properly, Peter sighed, trying to ignore the knot forming in his stomach.

The whistle sounded, and the ball was kicked with such force that it went all the way past Midtown's end zone. That may have meant an advance for the Tigers, but it was enough to strike fear into the players. After all, the Lions were far bigger and stronger than every member of the team. If Peter overpowered them - even by accident - people would ask questions. All he could do was outrun them.

Flash called them into a huddle, holding out his hand to help them visualize the play, keeping his voice low.

"We're going to pretend to run the ball, while the receivers all run off to the sides. We need to get a quick first down. Ned, make sure I don't get sacked. Got it?"

They all nodded, taking their places on the line of scrimmage. They all fell silent until the snap, and Peter took off, blowing past his man effortlessly. The fake run caused no confusion, and every other man was left covered. Flash locked eyes with Peter, seeing that he was the only one open.

"Thompson!" Coach Wilson called out from the sidelines. "Give it to Parker!"

Flash ignored him, looking over the field once more to see that he was the only option, but still did nothing. Ned was pushing back two guys by himself, giving a window to throw until a third came in. They all went right through him, tackling Flash with the ball popping out from his hand.

Peter ran to recover the fumble, seeing that it was picked up by the other team. No one was in front of him. Boos were all that could be heard from the crowd as he ran into Midtown's end zone for the touchdown.

He took off his helmet in frustration, grabbing Ned's hand as he passed by and helping him to his feet.

"Are you blind?!" Wilson scolded Flash. "Parker was wide open! You two had better get over your differences, or this game is already over!"

***

Neither Michelle or Stephanie had touched their glass that night. In her mind, it was a waiting game to see who would crack first, and Michelle Jones never lost. It appeared that her new friend shared the same mindset.

Half an hour or so into the evening, she believed she identified the strategy of the Hydra member; annoying her into drinking.

Stephanie kept asking Michelle a series of personal questions, and even when she dodged them, she answered the question herself in a far too personal manner. And the glass of wine in front of her looked more inviting with every passing second.

Michelle knew what she wanted from her target, but in the back of her mind, she wondered what she possessed that was so appealing. The prospect that her true identity was something known to both of them was entertained, however unlikely.

"So, Mary Jane, do you have anyone special in your life? I have a hard time believing that a woman as beautiful as yourself is single."

It was as if Stephanie knew all the buttons to push. Michelle felt her face heat up in embarrassment, and in the tiniest moment of weakness, she raised the glass to her lips to take the edge off, and it was tempting. So tempting that if she pretended to drink, her will would have broken. She placed it down, smirking genuinely as the other woman's smile fell.

"As a matter of fact, I've recently started living with someone."

_"Oh. _And is there any particular reason he isn't with you tonight?"

She could feel her confidence growing. For the first time that night, Michelle was on the offensive, and it was her turn to give Stephanie a taste of her own medicine. Intimidating people was something she enjoyed at Midtown. Finally, she was back in her element.

"I left him tied up on the bed back in our hotel room." Her face turned scarlet, and Michelle pressed on. "I promised him something special if he's a good boy while I'm out. One of the benefits of dating a younger man is that they're always eager to please."

Stephanie looked away for a brief moment, and in that interval, Michelle waved her hand over her glass, spiking it with a very light truth drug that was concealed within her bracelet. She grabbed her glass, taking a quick sip.

Bingo.

"Have I made you..." Michelle leaned forward happily, resting her elbow on the counter and supporting her chin with her hand. "... uncomfortable?"

_"Yes."_ her response came robotically, then did a double take. "Sorry, I... didn't mean to say that. My mind must have stopped working for a second."

The affects would only last for about ten minutes, and it didn't guarantee that she would answer every question with ease. People were known to resist the drug at times if the secret they held was of utmost importance to the victim.

"Ah, there you are." a cold, familiar voice said from behind them. Michelle's newfound confidence was now gone. Clutching her purse tightly that contained her gun, both of them turned to see that man responsible for Peter's creation. The man who intended to keep him at Hydra forever.

Gideon Malick.

"Dad." Stephanie smiled, angling her head for Malick to kiss her on the forehead.

"And you are..."

"Mary Jane."

Michelle should have realized the connection from the moment she saw the Hydra signet ring. The only other member she'd seen wearing that was Malick, and they were identical. Back to the crisis at hand, there was a chance that Michelle's face had been seen at the Hydra. A very small chance.

"Mary Jane." he repeated with interest. "What a lovely name. Tell me, have you been a friend of my daughter for long? You seem oddly... familiar. Or perhaps have you met my son?"

According to records - belonging to the public and S.H.I.E.L.D. - Gideon Malick had no son. The daughter was a well-known within S.H.I.E.L.D. but there was nothing outside of rumours. Michelle was the first agent to have visual confirmation of her existence.

"I don't think so. Forgive me, Mr. Malick, but I've been following your company for quite some time to find out where my money would be going if I was to donate, and I haven't heard anything about you having a son."

Malick's expression turned to one of sorrow, and he looked down at the floor, playing with the Hydra ring on his right hand.

"I must admit that I was never a very good father to him. At times, I treated him like an object that I owned instead of a human being. My boy ran away from home quite recently from our house in Los Angeles. But I've... had time to think on my sins, and... I'd do anything to get him back. I don't know where in the world he is, but a great deal of my company is devoted to finding him."

She had to get out of there. She didn't care if people followed, or if she drew any attention to herself. Michelle needed to get back to New York. Tonight.

Pretending to yawn, Michelle stood up from the bar, pulling out her phone and checking the time.

"It's getting a little late, Mr. Malick. I think I'd better get going, I don't want to be a burden."

"Oh, I insist you stay a little while longer, Mary Jane. We've only just begun to get things started here."

"No! I - I really have to leave."

Michelle was now running. After stumbling due to her heels, she discarded them the first chance she got, running through the marble-floored lobby with her bare feet squeaking and her dress flowing behind her.

Pressing the button for the elevator repeatedly, she glanced of her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. The door slid open, and she jumped inside, heading for the garage to steal a vehicle. Michelle kept telling herself that Malick knew nothing, but that chance was getting slimmer. He was looking for Peter; that was all she knew.

During the travel to the basement, she disabled the security camera with her phone, then dumped the contents of her purse onto the floor in search of any tracker planted. There was nothing.

Concealing her gun on the holster strapped to her leg and hiding Mary Jane's fake ID in her bra, Michelle set an explosive in her purse to destroy any type of surveillance. DNA evidence wouldn't have been possible, since she got her fingerprints burned off before she got her ears pierced.

The elevator came to a stop, and she was met with a miracle. Parked by the garage door was a motorcycle with a tinted helmet on the seat. If she ignored the rules of the road, she could get to Stark's jet in no time.

Placing her phone by the throttle, Michelle made sure the line was secure before dialing Natasha, desperately hoping she would pick up.

"Come on, come on, come on."

It wasn't Natasha on the other end, but she would have taken anyone at this point.

"Hello?" Steve answered.

"Steve, it's me." Michelle said, voice muffled by the helmet any the engine revving. "The apartment might not be safe anymore. I need you to get to Peter before anyone else does. If Hydra's found us, we have to relocate to a new safehouse, and make sure Aunt May isn't a target."

***

Flash didn't change his strategy. Peter hadn't touched the ball all night, Ned had gotten hit more times than he deserved while trying to will the team to victory, and Flash either took a sack, or ran the ball to no success. The score was fourteen to nothing for the Lions with less than a quarter to go, and the ball was only five yards from Midtown's end zone.

"Parker! Leeds! Thompson!" Coach Wilson shouted at the three of them on the bench, coming dangerously close to snapping his clipboard in half. "I'm putting you guys in on defense. I don't care what you do, just get us back into the game. And for the last time, if a man is open, YOU GIVE HIM THE FUCKING BALL!"

"Yes, sir." they said in unison, running out onto the field with their helmets on, Ned replacing one of the outside linebackers and Peter and Flash taking position at the safeties.

Peter only ever learned how to be a wide receiver, and didn't know what his responsibilities were right now. But he was angry. He was desperate to win. And he had to keep the ball away from the end zone.

There was the snap, and Peter started running, eyes locked on the quarterback. Effortlessly, he leaped over the players at the line of scrimmage. Startled, the quarterback tried to get it off, but fumbled the ball as Peter tackled him. The two rolled to the ground, equal distance from the ball as they both attempted to recover it.

He was fast, but Peter was faster. The opponent was on top of him just as Peter got the ball for Midtown, and the play was dead. Possession for the Tigers.

Peter felt a hand on his shoulder to help him up. Expecting to see Ned, he was taken aback when he locked eyes with Flash, who said nothing, and acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary when he got back on his feet.

"Hail Mary" was all that was spoken at the brief huddle. Just over ninety yards were between them and their chance at getting back in the game, eight minutes remaining. The team barely had any time to get into position before Flash called the snap, and all receivers went running down the field, trying to get ahead of the people covering them.

"Parker!" Flash called out as he heaved the ball with all his might.

Glancing over his shoulder repeatedly, Peter tried to time it so he would be at the right place at the right time. He caught the ball at the twenty-yard line, and didn't look back from there. He jumped into the end zone with cheers coming from the stands, and everyone except his captain was celebrating.

"One down, two to go. We gotta do the same thing over and over again. We're going to do an onside kick, and hope for the recovery. We can't let them get the ball for the rest of the night."

It didn't matter if the Lions overheard them or not. After the field goal, their play could have been spotted from a mile away with the whole team clumped on one side of the field.

Peter wasn't the only one who was angry. From the kick, the ball slid across the field with all players rushing towards it. Somehow, it was Ned who beat everyone else to the punch. The ball was once again Midtown's, and they didn't have to travel the whole field to tie the game.

"We aren't going to pass, or hand it off to the running back. That stuff has only worked once all night, so we gotta change things up. I'm going to go for the rush myself. All you guys have to do is give me an opening, and make sure no one's on my tail."

Lining up with his man, Peter had only one goal in mind: grab him, and make sure he couldn't go anywhere. Ned had taken the place of the running back for some reason, and it became obvious why in a few short moments.

At the snap, he charged at the defense, taking as many of them with him as he could as they all went tumbling to the ground, giving Flash the perfect opening he'd asked for. The Lions were too disorganized to catch him, and he slipped right through.

The (second) fastest man on the team couldn't be caught by the opponents who may have had the advantage in strength, but whose downfall was speed. Flash waltzed into the end zone to reduce the gap to one, dancing arrogantly, yet Peter wasn't bothered by his showboating as he usually was.

Another successful field goal, and the game was finally tied.

The final minutes didn't hold as much success as their last few plays. Their attempt at another onside kick failed, giving the Lions less ground to make up. And their new strategy prevented Peter from making any difference, throwing the ball to the opposite side of the field and having an offensive line standing so tall that he couldn't jump over them in front of the school.

Thirty seconds left, no timeouts left for either team, fourteen to fourteen.

Peter was tempted to use his enhanced hearing to figure out what play they would be using, but up until that point, he hadn't used his powers yet (to his knowledge). If they had gotten this far by themselves, he believed they could finish it by themselves.

One final snap. This time, Ned didn't try to go for the sack, instead chasing after a receiver who was running into the end zone. The quarter back threw the ball towards him, and Ned picked it off.

His friend was running down the field as if his life depended on it, but the other team was catching up. Ned just wasn't fast enough to stay ahead. As he was about to be tackled, Flash came out of nowhere and took down one man.

But there was another, reaching out to grab Ned by the arm and pull him down to the ground.

Peter wasn't sure if he was using his speed or not. The crowd had fallen silent, not moving a single muscle. They looked frozen, just like bystanders did when he ran.

Praying that it was believable, he pulled the man off of Ned just in time as Midtown scored another touchdown for the win.

Ned fell down to the ground on his knees, coughing hysterically, clutching the football to his chest. Peter knelt down beside him in an attempt to look fatigued as well, placing an arm around him.

"I... am never... running again." he declared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had a plan that this chapter would end with the football game, and I stuck to that. And I was able to keep most of the parts I had planned. I cut a part out between Peter and May, but I'm going to include it in the story later. Anyways, thanks for reading the whole thing if you did, and I hope you enjoyed. Not a spoiler, but the Michelle part of this chapter isn't going to play out the way you might thing. I kind of had to make that clear for what's coming next chapter.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, this chapter went on for way longer than I was expecting.

The dead silence of the airstrip was broken by the unmistakable roar of a motorcycle. Zooming in with the scope mounted on the sniper, the crosshairs locked onto the helmet of the rider.

Ward's expression remained neutral, pressing a finger to his earpiece while his other hand remained on the trigger.

"Malick, I have eyes on Michelle Jones, and I've got a clear shot. What are my orders? Do you want me to take it?"

"No!" he snapped on the other end, causing Ward to wince from the pain in his ear. But then the former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. let out a sigh of relief, taking his hand away from the weapon in disgust. Killing a child was something Ward didn't have the stomach to do.

"Then what's the point of me following her? Last time I checked, she was on our hit list."

"Things change, Agent Ward." Malick said in the cold, robotic voice he had come to fear over the years. Ward never doubted that the Last head of Hydra would order him to murder a little girl, not even for a second. "To answer your question, we're only going to monitor Jones from now on. Abandon your equipment and head down to her plane. Get to the cargo hold before they take off, follow her back to New York City. As long as you're there, I want you to make sure that no harm comes to her, Ned Leeds, or May Parker."

Ward only continued to follow Hydra because it was in his best interest. The only thing keeping him there was his desire for self-preservation. Whatever loyalty he had to the organization died with Garrett. Yes, he was afraid of what Malick would do to him if he disobeyed orders, but Ward found himself questioning those orders more often than not.

He carefully placed the sniper back into its case, knowing that other agents would be there soon to dispose of it properly. Ward hopped the fence of the runway and began making his way to the plane in a crouching position.

"So, one minute we're trying to kill her, and now you're having me protect her? Why?"

"That's on a need-to-know basis. If everyone in the organization had all the same information, we would be vulnerable. What I _can _tell you is that they're Hydra's insurance. Should something happen to any of them, the consequences would be severe. Not just for Hydra, but for me, and for _you._"

That was all he needed to hear. After all, keeping himself alive was what Grant Ward did best. But keeping others alive? That would prove to be one of his more challenging assignments. Especially since he had to track down this May Parker and Ned Leeds.

As Michelle entered the plane from the front, the ramp descended at the back slightly, and Ward slipped inside, concealing himself within a crate.

For the entire flight, back to America, there was only one question on his mind: Who or what was so dangerous that required these people to be under the protection of Hydra?

***

Peter recalled the words of Gwen yesterday, going over them slowly in his mind to make sure he didn't misunderstand.

_Some of us are actually getting together after the football game tomorrow night. It'll just be the decathlon team, the football team, and a few others. I was hoping you could come. I wouldn't really call it a 'party' or anything like that. You know, unless you guys give us something to celebrate for. We're meeting out by the lake out in the woods. It should be fun._

He wasn't sure if that statement was all accurate. What constituted a party was beyond Peter, but there were three glaring errors from the other day; 'A few others' was more like a hundred people he didn't recognize, and it seemed to be anything but fun.

Peter found that he never enjoyed being around so many people, especially ones he didn't know. The reason behind this was that almost everyone he encountered was uncomfortable around him. Maybe even afraid of him. Peter rarely spoke to people other than Ned, MJ, or Betty - the people who never had a problem with him - and found that this further alienated himself from most social groups.

The ones attending this not-party didn't seem like the kind of people he would ever want to associate with. They actually reminded him of people Aunt May warned him about. 'The wrong crowd', 'delinquents', 'hooligans' were names she used most often.

Surveying the surrounding area, Peter saw that they were all participating in one of three actions.

Number one: Pressing their mouths together, tugging at their clothes in a peculiar manner that made him wonder what form of communication they were using (it was with their mouths, so it had to be a way of talking). For a moment, it reminded him of the way MJ touched his cheek that morning, but the intent looked too different.

Number two: Drinking a funny smelling liquid from a red cup, glass bottle, or can. The more of this liquid they consumed, the more outlandish their actions became. Until they passed out of course, usually surrounded by their laughing companions.

Number three: This was a less specific action, but appeared to be similar enough. Smoking a green plant that smelled revolting, sniffing very small amounts of a white powder, and stabbing themselves with needles. They were all gathered into one area, causing Peter to assume that they counted as one activity.

Gathered in the centre of all of this was a large fire. This was were most people were congregated, rubbing their hands together rapidly and huddling together.

"For fucks s- sake, Peter," Ned said through his chattering teeth, standing next to Betty who was wearing his gigantic coat, shivering as well. "everyone else is t- turning into a Popsicle over here! How are you n- not freezing?!"

While Peter struggled to have any sensation of pain (despite his best efforts), the cold was something that always gave him a feeling of pleasure. It mimicked the way he felt when he first met MJ, raising out of his cryogenic pod.

Peter looked down at his attire, which was far different from anyone else's. All he had on was a pair of sweatpants and his red hoodie - as opposed to the large coats that most people wore.

"I don't know." he responded, trying his best to sound innocent. "I just like the cold, I guess. It's never really bothered -"

He stopped abruptly, clutching his forehead as he struggled to stay on his feet. Peter stumbled forward as he felt a sickness wash over him. The level of fatigue caught him off guard, sending a rushing feeling from his stomach right up his throat and into his mouth. Peter coughed, vomiting onto the leaves.

"Are you okay?!" Ned cried; whose hands had moved away from Betty to support Peter.

The nausea soon passed, and his strength returned like it never left.

"No - no. I'm all right now. I just need a minute."

Peter departed from the fire, leaving Ned and Betty behind as he tried to find some place quiet. Off in the distance, he could hear an area that contained no heartbeats. Peter had to navigate through the crowds, trying his best to tune out the yelling drinkers and the strangers offering him substances. Whatever was held in front of him was quickly declined.

Finally, he reached a place where no one had followed; the lake.

Crouching down at the body of water, he cupped his hands together and scooped up some water, bringing it to his lips. The cold rushed down his throat, spreading throughout his entire body, replenishing him. He couldn't stop drinking. Now, the cold wasn't something he desired, but something he needed.

Peter fell back onto the ground, letting out a satisfied moan. He didn't know what had happened to him, and he hoped he wouldn't have to find out. Whatever it was, it was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. It wasn't painful though.

Still, it couldn't be described as anything less than terrible.

***

As soon as Steve got the call from Michelle, he didn't waste any time in trying to find May and Peter Parker and make sure they were both safe.

His first instinct was to check their apartment building. At this time of day, Steve couldn't think of any place they would be other than home, but if that was true, Hydra would have thought of that as well. There was also a good chance that they were both under surveillance already, meaning Hydra would have an easier time tracking them down.

Natasha had insisted on going with him, saying that they would have an easier time finding the two if they could split-up and search the apartments quicker. Not only that, but they were the two Avengers who could have blended in among the public most successfully.

"Michelle's safe house is on the left, and May Parker lives just across from her." Nat said as the elevator reached their floor, opening with a ding. She tossed Steve a key, making her way to May's door. "The security code is 7 - 4 - 1 - 9 - 1 - 8. We're probably going to have to change it again."

Steve's brows furrowed, looking down at the rusty key in his hand.

"That's... that's my birthday."

"Who do you think sets the codes?" she said simply. When she knocked, he could tell that the conversation was over.

Steve slipped the key into the hole, and a keypad popped out of the wall. Entering his date of birth and turning the key simultaneously, the doors many interior locks deactivated.

He slowly opened the door, trying to keep the creaks at a minimum just in case there were intruders. Steve couldn't make out anything inside. It was far too dark to see, even with the light coming in from the hallway. It just barely illuminated the doormat.

Sliding inside and closing the door behind him, Steve switched on the lights, finding that the apartment was indeed empty. It appeared that nothing had been touched from that morning.

He knew that Michelle liked to keep most of the place organized in a certain way, and from what he remembered, everything was exactly where it was supposed to be.

Tapping the wall in rhythm, another panel flipped down. Steve pulled out a flash drive from his back pocket and plugged it into the port, seeing the lights flicker for a brief moment before turning blue.

"Jarvis, are you here?" he called out to the apartment.

"For you, Captain Rogers? Always." the AI responded. "And might I offer you my congratulations for figuring out how to use this technology. You've come quite a long way."

Steve shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had regular conversation with an artificial butler.

"Can you check the surveillance tapes and tell me if there's anything out of the ordinary?"

He only had to wait a few short moments until Jarvis collected the data.

"There's a large window of time that is unaccounted for in the servers. Two days ago, nine hours of footage has been erased, and I'm unable to recover it. There was a minor glitch in the security system that could have been used for an infiltration, but it's inconclusive. My resources here are quite limited."

"Damn. Is there any foreign surveillance you can find?"

"Once again inconclusive. There seems to be too much interference. My best guess would be someone has tampered with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s instruments. Even if Hydra was here, I wouldn't be able to deduce it. I shall attempt to repair them, but until then, I suggest you conduct your search manually."

Steve left Jarvis to his work, already having a clear idea in his head of where to search. Hydra's strategies hadn't changed much since the forties. Turning back to the door, Steve ran his hand across the top of the frame, feeling a small dip in the otherwise level wood.

He applied more pressure to the point, feeling something pop up. With his hand wrapped around it, Steve tore it away in one swift motion. In the palm of his hand was a device the size of a fly, flashing red.

"Is this one of ours?" the captain asked, although he was fairly certain of the answer. It reminded Steve of the technology he used back when he worked at S.H.I.E.L.D. He may not have understood how they worked, but Hydra's design had changed about as much as their strategies. Whatever Steve was holding, it wasn't put there by Hydra.

"It's originated at S.H.I.E.L.D." Jarvis confirmed. "It could easily belong to Ms. Jones. She hasn't registered it on her servers, but then again, she may have inherited her father's paranoia. I would destroy it for good measure."

Steve pressed his fingertips together, crushing the device, falling to the floor in small fragments. For good measure, he dragged his boot across the floor, making any chance of recovering the data impossible.

There was a knock at the door. Steve gazed through the peephole to see Nat was on the other side, tapping her foot against the floor.

"May is safe. She said that Peter's supposed to be with his friends out in the woods." she said, brushing past him, heading towards the kitchen to begin rummaging through the drawers and cupboards. "I'll search the rest of the place. You can check their rooms. MJ's room is down the hall, first room on the right. Peter's is right across from her."

"Got it."

***

Peter had no intention of returning to the party. He didn't know how long he remained by the lake, taking sips of water periodically then resting back on the ground.

As the time passed, he would listen in on the crowd to make sure that Ned and Betty were okay, and that only made the lake more appealing to him. Things were calm there, while the party only grew louder; so loud that his super hearing was eventually unnecessary.

"Hey, Peter!" a cheery voice exclaimed, interrupting the silence Peter craved.

It was Gwen Stacy who was approaching, a smile plastered on her face which flashed her snow-white teeth. Peter blinked in an irritated state - the moonlight was being reflected right into his eyes from her blonde hair. Her hair always had that affect on him, and he never got used to it.

There was something that was off about her face now. Gwen's usual pink lips were now bright red, her eyelashes curled and turned into a coal-black. Peter inhaled, picking up traces of chemicals on her. Most girls in the school had a similar scent every once in a while, but not like this. It was actually quite revolting.

She sat down next to him, their legs brushing against one another. Peter wanted to move away, but didn't. After all, he didn't like it when people did the same to him, and he wanted to come off as anything but rude.

"Ned and Betty have been talking about you a lot. Are you feeling any better?"

Peter wasn't in much of a mood speak. All he did was nod along slowly, keeping his eyes locked onto the moon rather than Gwen.

It must have been a mistake though. She too fell silent, the same way she did yesterday. Peter was beginning to pick up on this phenomenon. When people stopped talking all of a sudden, it usually meant they were uncomfortable. Something he did had that kind of affect on people.

"You guys great today." she reignited the conversation, her hand inching closer to his own. "I knew you would."

He couldn't think of any appropriate way to respond. Truth be told, Peter didn't have much confidence in his abilities up to and even during the game. It wasn't until he and Flash managed to put aside their differences that he was able to do something. Before then, Peter didn't have a chance to play much.

Peter never even considered himself to be 'great'. If that applied to anyone on the team, it was Ned. In the end, it was Ned who won Midtown the game.

This time, he made no movement to nod, or any effort to speak. This - unfortunately - made her more uncomfortable. Gwen let out a laugh that he could tell was insincere, moving her hand away and placing it in her lap.

"You're not much of a talker, are you. That's probably the only thing I've been able to find out about you. Maybe that's my fault." she mused. "It's not like I've told you anything about me. How about this? I'll tell you something interesting about me, and then you can do the same. Sound good?"

Still no speaking, still very awkward. Gwen however took this lack of an answer as a yes. After all, he didn't exactly deny her proposal.

"I have three little brothers; Philip, Howard, and Simon."

How could he respond to that? Michelle had made it perfectly clear that telling people about himself was dangerous, and certainly on more than one occasion. Peter felt that he had to answer now, otherwise things may have gotten worse.

"I love my Aunt May."

That shouldn't have been harmful, and it wasn't a lie. At the same time, Peter realized that he had extinguished the only truth he could tell Gwen. The only truth he could think of, that is.

"I've always had a thing for smart boys."

Her hand had returned, this time on his shoulder, inching closer to his chest. Peter flinched briefly. Was this normal? Were people allowed to get this close? If it wasn't wrong, why did it make _him _feel uncomfortable? What did it mean to have a 'thing' for smart boys?

"I don't understand. What are you doing?"

Now that he was focused, Peter was able to pick up another peculiar scent. The liquid that was being passed around at the party lingered on her breath, barely noticeable even with his advanced senses, but still there.

Gwen had pressed her lips together, coming at his face without warning. It didn't take his speed for him to react so quickly, jumping away. Gwen - who was holding onto him for support - fell face-first onto the ground.

"I - I think..." he stammered, gesturing over his shoulder. "... I think I'm gonna head home. I - I'll see you Monday."

Peter left Gwen behind, heading back towards the party in search of Ned and Betty. Before he went home, he thought it best to let them know that he was leaving. The process was rather quick thanks to his super hearing, and Peter found Ned and Betty getting into her car.

"Hey, guys." he greeted in a morose voice. "Sorry I didn't spend much time here, but I want to head home now."

Betty poked her head out from the driver's windows.

"We can give you a ride back to your house if you want."

"Nah, I feel like walking."

Ned got out from the vehicle, putting his jacket back on.

"At least let me come with you. It gets pretty dangerous out there when its this late."

When Ned talked this way, Peter found that there was no changing his mind - especially when it involved helping him in some way. Peter couldn't help but smile at this. Ned made it clear on several occasions that he genuinely cared for him, but it always came as a surprise. He was clearly committed to joining him.

"But how are _you _going to get home?"

"I'll pick him up." Betty answered. "Where do you live?"

He gave the address hesitantly, hoping that they didn't know where MJ lived.

"That's only a couple of blocks from my place! Ned was going to come over to my place after this anyway. I'll see you in a bit?"

"Of course."

Ned and Betty's lips met, and neither of them seemed to be uncomfortable with the action. On the contrary, they both enjoyed it, despite how brief it was. If Gwen was trying to do the same thing with him, something definitely wasn't right on their end.

***

Steve and Natasha left the apartment empty handed, finding no solid evidence that Hydra had ever set foot anywhere in the building. Jarvis was unable to repair the system, saying that the person who tampered with it had inside knowledge. It was equally possible that it broke on its own.

Currently, Tony and Bruce were back at the tower, working on updating the security to make sure there were no errors in the future. To go along with this, they were planning giving May Parker some form of protection. They couldn't make her move out of her home, so that was the option they resorted to.

The two Avengers pulled up just outside of the woods. Loud sounds of cheering, music, and yelling incoherent sentences could be heard clearly from a distance.

"This doesn't seem like the type of place Peter would go to." Steve said.

"We've only known him for one day." she reminded him, removing her helmet and getting off her bike.

"Well, I got a good impression from him. He seems like the responsible type."

"And you're probably right. Besides, we don't even know what he was doing here. He can go to a party, and still be responsible."

That statement became more and more unlikely the more they searched for Peter among the crowd. Everyone there was clearly inebriated, or under the influence of some other kind of drug. Half the people they asked about him would just laugh, and say something along the lines of "you look just like Captain America!"

Finally, one person who was on the verge of passing out provided partially useful information. They said that Peter went down to the lake a couple hours ago, and might have still been there.

He wasn't.

Expecting to see Peter, Steve and Natasha came across a lone blonde girl, sitting down with her feet dipped in the water.

"Ma'am," Steve announced themselves. Yes, their first priority was to find Peter and make sure he was all right, yet this girl clearly needed some form of help too.

She shrieked when she saw them, concealing something on her person.

"Are you guys cops?"

Natasha shook her head in response, kneeling down next to the girl. She whispered something in her ear that Steve couldn't make out. Reluctantly, the girl pulled out a half-empty bottle, hanging her head in shame.

"I never drink, you know. I just thought... I'd try it this one time."

Natasha snatched the bottle, pouring the contents into the lake then tossing it off to the side.

"I know it's pretty fucking stupid to drink. I guess... I kind of overstepped... and I thought it would help... somehow. I just hope he's not mad at me."

They shared a glance, and Steve asked in a firm voice

"Who?"

***

"Where do you think Michelle was today?" Ned asked as they walked down the dimly-lit sidewalk, kicking a rock forward between the two of them. Peter's head shot up at that moment, thankful that his best friend couldn't see his reaction. "I know you haven't been here for a while, but she does this pretty often. She'll just leave school for days at a time, then show up like she never left. It's kind of weird, right?"

Another rule set by MJ was that no one could know about her true profession. Not even people they trusted. While Peter never asked why that was, he respected her wishes. If she was going to keep his secret, he might as well have done the same for her.

"I've never really thought about it." he shrugged. "But I bet she has a good reason for it."

His next kick was distracted, and the rock went too far to the left, rolling into an alleyway. Peter came to a sudden stop, clenching his fists and walking further into the darkness. He could feel that his instincts were taking over his actions, and whatever part of him that was separate from his programming was just sitting in the driver's seat.

Ned started chasing after him, but he didn't notice. All he could hear were two faint voices, one threatening and one frightened. Four heartbeats in total, one racing and the rest calm.

One woman was being held against the wall, crying as three men surrounded her. One hand was wrapped around her throat, squeezing while the other held a knife, the blade in her mouth.

"Now, what did I tell you about playing nice?"

Peter growled at them, taking their attention away from the woman, continuing to advance slowly.

"You've taken a wrong turn, boy." the largest one spat. "You'd better walk away now before we -"

He was cut off by Peter grabbing him by the shirt, lifting him off of the ground as if he weighed nothing. Giving no effort, he threw him towards the brick wall, knocking the entire thing down. The others couldn't react before Peter smashed a head on the ground violently, leaving the knife-wielding thug alone.

A gun was drawn, and the woman was screaming. She was more afraid of him than she was of her attackers, but Peter didn't care. He grabbed the gun by the barrel, bending it to the horror of its owner.

Peter's fist collided with his face, knocking him down to the ground in one hit. He held him down by the neck, punching him over, and over, and over again. _It's what you deserve for trying to hurt her, _he thought the entire time.

The other two had gotten up during Peter's blind rage, now with their guns out. They were pointed directly at his chest, and when the bullets hit him, Peter experienced something for the first time in his life.

Pain.

The bullets shouldn't have had an affect on him. They should have simply shattered when they met his chest, giving him no feeling whatsoever.

Instead, Peter clutched his chest, feeling like he was going to throw up again.

"What the hell?!" one of the criminals shouted, watching the fully intact bullets fall from Peter's chest to the ground. It still wasn't right. His powers were weakened - probably for longer than he realized, otherwise all three of them would have been dead already.

From behind him, darts shot into their necks, including the woman, rendering them unconscious. Natasha and Steve were there with Ned, staring at Peter in shock.

Peter stood up, his legs weak, leaning against the wall to stand up straight. He unzipped his hoodie and tore open his shirt, revealing two fresh, dark purple bruises were the bullets hit him.


	17. Chapter 17

What Peter remembered most after the fight was how quiet it was.

When Natasha and Steve hauled away the incapacitated bodies to have their memories wiped, Happy showed up in a tinted van to discreetly transfer them back to the tower. The trip was silent. Peter knew exactly what he wanted to say, and he had a pretty good guess of the questions going through Ned's head.

Still, neither of the boys said a word. Not when the entered the van, not when they entered the basement, not when they were locked in the interrogation room together, and not even now as they sat across from one another.

Not a single word.

The pain in Peter's chest showed no sign of ceasing. Whenever he took a breath, it burned. Every small movement caused him to wince uncontrollably. But on the travel back to Avengers Tower, nothing hurt more than looking at Ned, knowing that their friendship was over.

Peter recognized the look in his eyes; the look that people had given him his entire life.

Ned wasn't looking at him like a friend now. He was just a thing. An animal. A worthless experiment that needed to be locked up in a lab. Just like everyone else who had witnessed his powers, Ned was afraid of Peter, and rightfully so.

"How did you do all that stuff?" Ned asked. Peter could hear a hint of fear in his voice, but there was also a hint of curiosity. It wasn't enough to drown out the shakiness.

He sighed, trying his best not to cry - something he knew he would fail at as his eyes had grown wet.

"Your powers..." Ned pressed on. "how did you get them? How could you get _shot _and just walk it off? How could you bend a fucking gun?! For God's sake Peter, why are we down here?! What do the fucking Avengers have to do with any of this?! You could have killed those guys!"

Ned only got louder as the questions continued, and Peter felt the tears beginning to fall down his face. There was nothing that could be done to fix things now. Peter _did _try to kill those men, and he couldn't even control himself.

"Did you get them from an experiment?! Are you some kind of -"

"I WAS MADE THIS WAY!" he finally snapped, now sobbing. He stood to his feet, throwing his chair against the wall. Ned backed away with his eyes wide, terrified. "**I - _AM_ \- AN EXPERIMENT!"**

Slowly, Peter sunk to he's knees, his head in his arms. He couldn't speak now, too ashamed of himself to look at his (former) best friend. Peter had gone too far because of his lack of self-control, and he had to pay the price.

He could hear Ned's footsteps - expecting they were headed for the door. Instead they stopped beside him, a hand placed cautiously on his shoulder. Ned knelt down, and Peter felt his arms wrap around him, continuing to sob as Ned cradled him on the floor.

They stayed there until there were no tears left, and even after all that, they didn't let go. Peter bunched up the sleeve of his hoodie in his hand, drying his eyes. Ned got to his feet again and walked to the other side of the room, picking up the chair that had been thrown.

"You can speak whenever you want." he said in a low voice. "I'll listen to whatever you have to say."

There was nothing much left to hide from him. Clearing his throat, Peter sat back in his chair, thankful that Ned hadn't left. He let out a shaky, deep breath, feeling incredibly lightheaded.

"I've... I've always had problems with my temper." Peter began. "Whenever I feel threatened, or... see someone getting hurt... I just lose it. It's like I don't have any control of my actions. It's what they programmed me to do. A little less than a year ago... I was created by Hydra. They would drop me into a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, and... wait until no one else was left."

He held back another urge to cry, clenching his fists.

"And then... I was found by -" Peter caught himself from saying MJ's name, making sure to pick his next words carefully. "by a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. They freed me from Hydra and brought me here. The Director told them to leave me behind, but they didn't listen. For the first time, I wasn't being treated like a _thing_. Everything good I have is because of them. They even gave me my name."

At least he knew MJ would never be afraid of him. Thinking about how much she'd done for him made Peter realize how much he missed her at the moment. Even if Ned was no longer his friend when the night was over, he would still have MJ and Aunt May in his life.

"So Hydra _made _a human? And they did it from scratch? How is that possible?"

"I don't know." he dismissed immediately. "But I'm not _human, _okay? Not really. Humans - real ones - have parents or siblings. They come from somewhere... and I'm not even real. I was just cooked up in some lab."

"So what?!" Ned cried. "You exist. You go to school like every other kid. And you're a hell of a lot nicer than anyone else I've met. Who the fuck cares how you got here?! You're just as human as anyone else."

Peter smiled, holding onto the words he wished to hear for so long.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you always kind to me?"

Ned shrugged, having a twinkle in his eye and saying "I guess you're like the brother I never had. I don't have much family - really, it's just me and my dad - but when you meet someone you trust... you kind of have a way of _making_ them your family. I'm just glad you were able to trust me with all this."

Peter stood up once more and embraced Ned, and the pain in his chest seemingly went away. His best friend found out his secret, and he was still there for him. It felt as if a giant weight had been lifted off of Peter. Now, he didn't have to hide anything.

"Did you practice that line?" Peter questioned through his laughter. "The whole part about 'trust and family'?"

"Nope. Just came up with it, actually. Was it too much? It kind of felt like too much."

"Nah, come on, dude, it was great."

That was how Steve and Natasha found them when they finally returned to the tower, still hugging in the middle of the interrogation room. The Black Widow cleared her throat to get their attention, and the two separated.

The time for celebration was clearly over, because there were more pressing matters to attend to than saving Peter's friendship with Ned: Peter's powers had failed him, and while he had survived the bullets, something was indeed wrong with him.

Then there was his mental state. Not only were his powers affected, but he lost control. He was angrier than usual. Normally, he would have been able to resist his programming to a greater degree - at least to the point where he didn't want to kill those men.

"We've just been able to get in contact with Coulson and his team." Natasha stated. "Agents Fitz and Simmons are going over the data they already have on you. And Tony has been trying to access the rest of the Hydra files to figure out what's gone wrong with your powers, but he hasn't had any luck yet. We're going to need to run some tests on you upstairs."

Natasha, now facing Ned, spoke to him directly.

"As for you, we're expecting you to keep everything you see here to yourself. Do we make ourselves clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

***

Yesterday during the field trip, the lab was in complete and utter chaos. Stark employees were running around while trying to avoid bumping into one another, carrying chemicals and gadgets back and forth, a few curse words thrown around here and there, and hardly any breathing room.

This evening however was a different story.

The lab was quiet, and almost completely empty; its only occupants being Peter, Ned, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, and Tony. Fitz and Simmons' meanwhile were attending via video chat - their faces displayed on the nearest screen. There was one other person on call, but Peter didn't recognize her.

"Take off your shirt and lay down." Bruce gestured to the medical table with his massive hand. "Tony and I are going to monitor your heart, body temperature, and breathing. Fitz and Simmons are going to analyze your blood if we can manage to get a sample. Shuri is going to be looking over your brainwaves from Wakanda. She's a bit more familiar with Hydra programming than we are."

The girl who went by the name 'Shuri' gave him a brief wave and a smile before he unzipped his hoodie, the pain shooting in his chest again from the movement. The bruises had actually healed significantly over the conversation with Ned - now a faint green colour surrounded by fading purple.

Peter followed their instruction and placed himself on the table. Tony stood over him, placing a series of wires on his chest, arms, and stomach.

"Let's hope this works." he said, right before poking his arm with a needle, going right through his skin. Blood began flowing through the tube, being stored in a frozen container.

"Peter's blood is..." Simmons trailed off. "quite abnormal - not that I expected anything less, but... it appears to be responding well to the sub-zero temperatures. It's as if his blood is taking it in and using it as energy. I'm not exactly sure how that's possible."

"It's sort of like food for him." Fitz added. "Look at the temperature on the container. It keeps increasing while Peter's blood is gaining energy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Hydra keeping Peter in some sort of cryogenic pod?"

"Keeping him on ice was the only way they could keep him contained." Simmons said.

"But what if it wasn't just that." Fitz hypothesized. "Before we got to bed, we always plug in our phones. After every mission, Hydra would put him back in the pod."

Tony nodded in agreement.

"I think I know what you're getting at. Yes, Peter's powers are built into him, but like everyone else, he needs the proper fuel to function properly. Without food, water, and sleep, we all grow weaker, and eventually die. It makes sense that Peter would rely on the cold to stay healthy. Once we get full access to the Hydra files, we can understand this a bit better."

"His brain is also in a state of extreme fatigue." Shuri interjected. "A contributing factor to his weakened powers could be a lack of sleep or even proper nutrition. And you said that Peter was more emotional than normal. Exhaustion can lead to feelings of anger. What have your sleeping patterns been like?"

Peter thought back to his restless nights. Very rarely did he spend time in his bed, wandering the cities by himself. Whenever he actually managed to sleep, it passed in the blink of an eye, and couldn't have been for very long.

"I'll take your silence as 'not great'." Shuri said simply. "And what about your diet? How many calories are you getting a day?"

Still, he gave no response. He wasn't a hundred percent sure what a calorie even was.

"It's recommended that people of your biological age require at least eight hours of sleep to function properly, and given your size, approximately... twenty-four hundred calories a day - give or take a few hundred calories depending on how active you are. But if we take your powers into account, you would need..." she closed her eyes in thought for a moment, calculating the number in her head. "... at least fifteen thousand calories a day. At rest, you burn over five times as many calories than a healthy male. If you've been eating like a normal person, it's no wonder your powers have been weakened."

Peter knew what it felt like to be tired. But hungry? He wasn't sure if that feeling ever took hold over him. Then again, he couldn't remember the last time he felt full. Aunt May's sandwiches tasted great, but even after downing four or five in one session, Peter wasn't satisfied.

The explanation about the cold made perfect sense to him. After all, drinking the cold water from the lake managed to sustain Peter and cure his dizziness. Temporarily, of course.

"So, we just build him another pod to charge his powers." Bruce proposed. "He can just jump inside every night before he goes to sleep. Tony, how fast do you think could we get one constructed?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Shuri said. "If you recall Sergeant Barnes and his time at Hydra, his mental state worsened as he relied more on cryogenic stasis. To bypass this, they would wipe his memory, but I'm guessing we wouldn't want to do that to Peter. And if he was to use it on a daily basis, he could grow addicted."

"Then we can find a happy medium." Tony proposed. "His powers have been fine up until now, and he's gone without charging for a couple weeks. We can figure out the optimal charging days while we're building him a new pod. To answer your question, Bruce, I'd say we could get it done in less than a week. But we would need to access the design from Hydra."

Peter couldn't say he was thrilled with the idea of going back into a pod - even though it would have made him stronger. Once they stuck him inside, there would be no way from him to get out unless someone else decided it was the right time. He could have been trapped for days at a time, months, or even years.

"How much do you think food and sleep have an affect on my powers?" he asked, leaning up, but was pushed back down to the table by Bruce. There was a hint of desperation in his voice, hoping that his problem could be resolved in some other way.

"We don't know yet." Bruce responded. "But we can experiment with your diet, figure out what works best for your body, and see how much strength you regain. You need to take it easy over the next couple of days. Try to conserve your energy and get some sleep. At least eight hours, and you should feel much better tomorrow morning."

Tony pulled the needle from his arm and removed the wires from his chest, powering down the equipment.

"I think we made pretty good progress." he thought out loud. "Jarvis, give me a scan of Peter and put together a list of possible diets."

Peter picked up his hoodie from the ground and pulled it back on. Sleep wasn't something he'd been planning on doing that night. Really, he was going to stay up until MJ came home - whenever that was supposed to be.

Remembering her departing words, it could have been tonight, or far later.

_MJ. _he thought to himself.

"Can you guys do me a favour and not tell M..." again, Peter caught his tongue from saying her name in front of Ned. "Could you not tell _her _about any of this yet? I just want to wait until everything is fixed. I don't want her to worry."

Between school, decathlon and her 'job', the last thing MJ needed was something else on her plate. Peter hated the idea of causing her any stress, and quite frankly, it wasn't necessary for her to know something was wrong with him.

Everyone in attendance nodded - even Ned, who didn't realize who they were talking about. Peter knew Ned wouldn't be a problem. As far as he knew, the only interaction between him and MJ came during decathlon and lunch, which he was always present for. If Ned was about to slip up, Peter would be there to prevent any mistakes.

The next time Peter and Ned were back in the van, there was no silence between the two of them. His best friend had discovered his secret, and much to his surprise, he was no longer afraid. Ned was still there for him.

***

All night, Peter had only seen two things; a single spot on his bedroom ceiling, and the red numbers of the clock on his bedside table.

Happy had dropped him off at the apartment hours ago, and not once had he tried to sleep, despite the orders from Bruce. Instead, Peter stayed true to his word and waited for MJ to come home.

Still waiting, actually.

Peter lazily turned his head to look at the clock, seeing that it was now five in the morning. It had been seven hours since he got home. Seven hours he could have spent sleeping. Seven hours of his life - his health - had been wasted.

"You're an idiot." he told himself, swinging his legs off the bed, sitting and stretching.

If he hadn't gotten any sleep by now, there was no point in trying anymore. With no school today, Peter had no idea what to do with himself. It was always MJ who guided him through the day, and her absence left him with no plans.

Entering their shared bathroom, Peter stood in front of the mirror and removed his shirt to examine his injuries. Unexpectedly, they had completely healed overnight, and there was no sign they had ever existed.

The sound of keys jingling came from the door, and Peter's spirits were immediately lifted. Blinking for a moment, he activated his x-ray vision (thankfully, it was still working normal), looking through the walls and the door between them.

It was MJ on the other side.

"Peter?!" she called out anxiously. "Peter, where are you?!"

Using what speed he had left, he ran to her, their bodies colliding as he wrapped his arms around her. Peter couldn't see her face, but could hear that she was crying into his shoulder. MJ returned the hug, squeezing him with all her might.

"You're okay." MJ pulled back to look at him, tears dripping down her cheeks, but smiling. "I thought..."

"Thought what?"

She didn't answer him, shaking her head.

"It doesn't matter now... I just missed you."

When Gwen got this close to him yesterday, Peter felt uncomfortable. That wasn't the case with MJ. When he was near her, he felt happier. When they hugged, he never wanted to let go. It was even different from hugging Ned. Peter wouldn't have called it 'better', but different nonetheless.

MJ's warm hands were on his chest, soothing the spots where the bruises used to be. Realizing their placement, she stepped away, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm gonna need a shower." she laughed, pushing some of her curly hair in front of her face. "But I have some stuff I want to talk to you about afterwards."

Peter wasn't sure why he began to blush as he watched her depart, or why his eyes traveled a bit lower than they normally did. It must have been something about the dress MJ was wearing. It was more... 'form fitting' than her usual attire.

When he could no longer see her, Peter let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding. Why was he looking at her in that way?

***

From the building across the street, Ward snapped a picture of Peter through the window, adding it to the collection he'd taken by other Hydra agents earlier that week. And now, he had a complete set.

Peter Parker in the middle of the apartment

Michelle Jones getting off her plane.

Ned Leeds having an early breakfast with his father.

May Parker asleep in her bed.

"Targets are all safe, sir." Ward spoke into his phone. "But I thought we were just protecting the three of them? Who's Peter Parker?"

On the other end, Malick was playing with his Hydra ring, staring at his computer screen.

"Someone we'll need when the time is right. Maybe not in the way we once thought, but Peter is still vital to our operation."


	18. Chapter 18

MJ's parents never gave her 'the talk'.

In her mind, it wasn't a conversation that needed to be had. From her own experience, and listening around the halls, almost every teenager was able to figure out the mechanics of sex by themselves. The safety aspect of it all was taught in schools, which was easily the most disgusting class MJ had even been a part of.

The internet was a far more useful when it came to learning this information.

There were no embarrassing moments of silence between her and the computer screen. She wasn't surrounded by her classmates which only elevated the awkwardness. And in the comfort of her own home, MJ could easily avoid looking at photos of an STD.

Honestly, MJ wished she could have let Peter do what she had done: An entire apartment to herself, a laptop with a VPN, and the ability to view pornography to her hearts content.

Unfortunately, that would have been incredibly immature of her, and at that age, Peter was very impressionable. Porn was a good way of learning how sex worked, but failed to represent the actual meaning of the act. MJ may have been able to handle it, yet Peter might not have.

So, Michelle Jones - a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, a genius who balanced a double life, a killer - was faced with the task of teaching Peter Parker about sexual intercourse, the safety measures that had to be taken, and consent.

Stepping out of the bathroom, hair still damp from the shower and a fresh change of clothes on, MJ made her way back to the living room to see that Peter was still there. Taking him by the hand, she sat him down on the couch, wishing that Aunt May could have been doing this instead of her.

Maybe Peter was just as nervous as she was. He wasn't making eye contact with her whatsoever, and when he looked up at her briefly, his usual pale face turned scarlet.

"Peter," she began. "you're at that age - that biological age - where people start going through _changes._"

And she had to use the most cliché opening to 'the talk' in the history of mankind. MJ shut her eyes in frustration, taking in a deep breath. Besides, they didn't have to go through the whole change portion. Peter was practically in his physical prime anyway. The only thing he lacked was the proper knowledge.

"There's something people do called... _sex._" MJ refused to look at him, and now they were both blushing, although hers was less noticeable. "When a mother and a father love each other very much, they have..._ sex... _and if they're lucky enough, and if all goes as it should, they should have a baby in nine months."

So much for avoiding the clichés.

MJ came to the sudden realization that she should have started somewhere other than natural birth. Peter's face was full of sorrow, looking down at his lap in humiliation. She should have remembered by now. Whenever he was reminded of his unnatural origins, he took pity on himself.

Time to change the focus.

"It's not _just _for making people." she said happily. "It's a way for people to express how much they love and trust each other. Sex is also... _fun. _If it's done properly - and most importantly - safely and responsibly, it's supposed to feel good for both people involved. Which is why you should wait to have sex until you're both ready. Whoever that ends up being."

The image of another girl having sex with Peter flashed in MJ's head, causing her to squirm. No, wait - not _another girl! _ Just... some girl taking advantage of him at such a young age disgusted her.

"If you're in a relationship with someone, chances are you aren't going to be ready at the same time, and that's okay. Communication is what the best relationships are based on, so before you engage in sexual activity with someone, always ask each other if you're comfortable, and if you want to actually go through with this. If she says 'yes' that doesn't mean you have to say it as well. If one of you says 'no', then you take a step back, and just stop what you're doing. This is called _consent, _which goes both ways. Always remember that there isn't any shame in waiting. Do you understand?"

Peter nodded, but he still didn't look at her.

"Waiting until you get married is also a great option. You know you've only ever had sex with each other, there's no risk of catching anything, and there's complete love and trust there. It's actually the kind of thing Aunt May might encourage you to do, but in the end, it's all up to you. And the girl you end up with."

MJ didn't care who Peter ended up with - really, she didn't. As long she respected him, loved him for who he really was, and wasn't called Gwen Stacy. Liz Allan wasn't a prime candidate either, but at least she didn't stare at Peter during PE like he was a piece of meat.

Candidate? No. Girlfriend of Peter Parker wasn't a position that had to be filled, let alone decided by MJ. If Peter was going to date - not any time soon, by the way - it would be up to him, and only him.

"Now, you're probably wondering what sex is, and how it's done."

Admittedly, the conversation hadn't been as unbearable as she had foreseen. At least up to this point. There would be no way around what was to come, and of all the scenarios MJ had run through her head, not one of them could go without embarrassment.

***

Michelle didn't know how they got to this point.

The only thing she knew for sure was that she didn't get the chance to finish explaining sex to Peter. From there, time passed in the blink of an eye, like falling asleep and waking back up.

Peter softly pressed his lips against hers as he hovered over her. Michelle sighed contently, feeling a single hand caress her cheek and move up into her curly hair. She didn't remember what prompted this kiss, or how they got from the couch to her bedroom, both out of their clothes.

No one had looked at her the way he was now.

Peter loved her; she could tell he did.

He kissed Michelle once more before leaning up, spreading her legs and lining himself up at her entrance. They nodded at one another, smiling. Peter wanted this. Michelle wanted this. She wanted to be this close to him. She wanted to be this intimate with him.

Finally, Peter pushed himself inside her. Michelle's hands reached up to grab his chest, feeling his muscles tense with each thrust. Throwing her head back into the pillow, she cried out his name.

"Peter."

MJ woke up with a gasp, still in her bed but fully clothed, and Peter wasn't there with her. The sheets were discarded onto the floor, almost impossible to spot in the darkness of her bedroom. She was covered in sweat, trembling.

It was nothing more than a dream. A very, _very _strange dream. Most of her dreams disappeared from her mind when she woke up, or they remained as mere flashes. This one was different, however. Every feeling, every image, every look Peter gave her was stuck playing over, and over, and over again.

'The talk' most certainly didn't lead to that.

The only logical explanation for the dream was that sex was on her brain more than usual because of the discussion that morning, and the association with Peter was made because it was with him. She didn't actually _want _to have sex with him. She was more responsible than that. She had more self-control than that.

MJ wasn't like Gwen or potentially Liz.

Yes, she found Peter, and certainly liked him, but it was for different reasons than those... succubi. Peter was just a good person, and very few people at Midtown focused on that. A pattern MJ noticed was that their classmates spoke very highly of Peter behind his back, but when they actually met him, they called him strange.

Starting school as a chronological infant would have made anyone odd, however, that came with innocence - and that was something people were lacking these days.

Peter never thought anything was bad. He was naive and optimistic, which was the exact opposite of MJ, who knew more about the world and hated that she did. Knowing that there were bad things happening made people unhappy. Knowing what Hydra and even S.H.I.E.L.D. did made her miserable.

And then there was Peter, who saw bad things, and was the result of them, but tried his best not to hate anyone. Sadly, the only thing he'd every described as truly terrible was himself.

The reasons MJ liked Peter were the exact same reasons she hated Gwen now. She didn't really notice him. She didn't see what he was going through. When he talked, Gwen would smile and nod the same way, never listening to what he had to say.

The only thing Gwen saw in Peter was his looks. She was more interested in the _idea _of having a boyfriend than actually caring about him.

"I care about Peter." MJ said without shame, as if trying to prove something to Gwen. She closed her eyes, imagining the blonde girl standing before her. This was her chance to say everything she ever wanted to. "I'm smarter than you! I'm stronger than you! My grades are better! And I've done more than you ever will!"

It may have been in her mind, but she didn't feel in complete control. The imaginary Gwen smiled at her menacingly, tucking her hair behind her ear in the way that made MJ's blood boil.

"Look at me... then look at yourself. What do you think really matters in this world?"

MJ tried to say something along the lines of "Morals. Actions over words. Trying to do the right thing. Hard work.", but found herself silent. If the conversation was all going on in her head, Gwen was only speaking the truth. People didn't care about things that really mattered now.

"Looks, Michelle. The only thing people focus on is looks, and between you and me, it's no contest."

Gwen wasn't taller than the average man like MJ was. Gwen's hair wasn't unnaturally curly and all over the place. Gwen dressed in clothes that didn't come off as closed off. Gwen's body wasn't covered in scars like MJ's was. All this, and she had a more appealing figure.

If anyone - even Peter - had to choose between them...

"Shut up." she spat, jumping off the bed.

Why did she always downgrade herself when it came to her looks? Surely, there had to be something that could be considered attractive about her. If MJ was confident in almost every situation, why couldn't she learn to love her appearance too?

MJ stepped into the bathroom, locking the door that led into Peter's room. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, raising a hand to her face to move the mane that was covering it. There wasn't any reason to hide anymore. Her father wasn't around anymore.

Maybe she could try what Peter did, keeping her hair messy, but somehow elegant all at once.

She experimented for a couple minutes, ruffling and piling her curls into different styles until she found something that was still _her, _and different. It was all over the place, looking like she had just rolled out of bed (which she did). The compromise she made with herself was how her face was completely visible, and it was no longer tied up.

MJ cocked her head to the side, trying to put on an alluring face; the way she looked at Peter in her dream.

"Not bad." she admitted.

The one thing that she would refuse to change was her clothes. That would be going too far, not to mention it would be unnecessary. MJ quite liked the way she dressed, despite how much glamour they lacked. Her clothes were comfortable, and that was all that counted.

What this was really about is trying to see herself in a better light, focusing on her strengths instead of her flaws while keeping true to who she is.

MJ began to strip, pushing the memories that came with her scars to the back of her mind. Who cared if other people saw them? They would be a part of her forever, so they didn't need to be hidden. Why did she care about them any more? They were the result of her parents, who she was finally breaking free from.

All she had to do was get more comfortable with her body.

Standing naked in the bathroom, MJ's looked upon her scars. Every mark left from a bullet, every line left behind by a knife, every burn, every fracture that never healed properly. She saw them, but didn't cry as she always did. They meant nothing now.

MJ placed a hand on her hip, standing tall, enhancing her figure. She couldn't remember what she used to feel insecure about. Being tall gave her the blessing of long legs that she was starting to appreciate. Training over the years may have left her injured, but also toned her muscles.

There was always something to love about herself; just as much good to go with the bad. And the bad no longer had power over her.

***

"So, you have super strength, and you can take a bullet and get off with nothing but a bruise." Ned stated, walking down the empty hallway next to Peter. "Do you have any other powers?"

When Monday finally came, Ned was of course eager to question Peter about everything. He wanted to be honest with his best friend, and he would give as many answers as he could. However, there was something about Ned that Peter was just discovering now.

He wasn't the most subtle person in the world.

Math class was spent with Ned's voice blocking out Mr. Harrington's, and by some miracle, they weren't heard by any other student. MJ didn't look up from her textbook all period, listening to music on her phone the entire time to block out any distractions.

As always, second period of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were reserved for Academic Decathlon meetings, which allowed them to cram a whole period worth of questions on their walk to the library. If they could get Liz to pair them up for studying by themselves, then they could continue without worry.

"Super hearing," Peter began to list his powers. "I can see really far, x-ray vision, super smell if you can believe that, super speed, super strength - but I'm not as strong as I can be - invincibility - and when I'm at a hundred percent, bullets don't even have an affect on me - and I can jump really high."

The door to the library was propped open, and they could see the entire decathlon team waiting for them. Liz was shuffling her flashcards, a clear sign that she was growing impatient. They quieted down, dropping their backpacks on the ground and taking their seats beside MJ.

"Where were you two?" Liz asked rhetorically.

Most of the team had math with Mr. Harrington first period as well, so to guarantee being alone to talk, Peter and Ned took the long way to the library, and moved at a slow pace.

"Sorry." they said in unison.

Their captain didn't respond to the apology, placing her cards back onto the table and grabbing a stack of forms from her own bag. She passed one out to each of the members, telling them to take out a pencil.

"For those of you who actually read our schedule, you're aware that our first meeting is next week. It was originally going to be here in New York, but the organizers decided to move it to Pittsburgh. Each of you need to contribute fifteen dollars to pay for the bus, and the hotel has already been taken care of. Every school already has their rooms paid for, so nothing else has to come out of Midtown's pocket."

MJ narrowed her eyes, raising her hand.

"Who paid for it?"

"They decided to remain anonymous. But apparently, money isn't a problem for them. We can decide who gets to bunk with who later. In the meantime, you can fill out the basic information on the permission slip yourself, then have it signed by your parents. These are due no later than Wednesday, understand?"

Everyone nodded, speedily putting down their full name, home address, and their parents phone numbers. Everyone except for Peter and MJ. This went unnoticed by the team, but Ned glanced away from his form for a moment, squinting in confusion. He obviously understood Peter's dilemma. MJ's was the true mystery to him.

"Dude." he nudged Peter. "I don't think I've ever heard Michelle talk about her parents."

"Don't worry about it."

Peter folded his form (it was more of a hasty crumple than a fold) and stuffed it into his bag, hoping that it would put and end to the current topic.

Thankfully, he didn't have to do it, because Liz did it for him.

"We'll be changing our strategy this week. We'll be focusing on one topic every day for the next week. I've already spoken to all your teachers to excuse you from second period all week. Today is physics, tomorrow is chemistry, followed by world history, mathematics, and Friday is reserved for non-specific trivia. Sort of a mock-competition. You'll be stuck with the same partners all week, and I'm only going to say this once. Abe studies with Cindy, Charles with Sally, Peter with Ned, myself with Flash, and Gwen with Michelle."

Peter and Ned bumped fists under the table, silently celebrating.

"Go off to separate areas in the library, and try not to disturb the other groups. Good luck, and _please _ be productive instead of playing on your phones the entire time."

That was likely. They were confident enough in their physics knowledge to blow off this one session. Besides, when were they going to get another opportunity to talk about this? Midtown was heavily populated, and if they met up after school MJ might find out why.

The team members pulled away from the desk and paired off into their assigned groups. Peter and Ned made their way to the back corner of the library, leaving the physics notes in their backpacks.

"Okay," Ned continued. "You said you can jump really high, but I think you could take it one step more. So... can you fly?"

The look on his face was too excited to deny it.

"I don't know. I've never tried. I - uh - I guess it's possible."

"Awesome! When they figure out a way to recharge your powers, that's the first thing we should test! Have you tried to figure out how fast you can run? Or how much you can lift?"

"Not yet."

Peter never put in very much effort when it came to his physical abilities, so he had to assume that his best was far beyond what he'd done so far. Honestly, he was just as curious as Ned to figure out his peak.

"Okay, we'll add that to the list too. Anyways, I'm not trying to accuse you of anything here, but I gotta ask from a moral view of things. Have you ever used your super senses to cheat at a test?"

He was tempted to do so at least once or twice, but he was able to resist. And there didn't seem to be any point. Peter had been doing fine in all his subjects by himself. Figuring out how to turn on a computer wasn't easy though. Drawing wasn't his best skill either (why English involved drawing was something he would never stop questioning).

"Never. I just think fast."

"Good." Ned sighed in relief. "And, like... your x-ray vision... you haven't used it to - you know... check out a girl or something, right?"

Peter knew that it was something he shouldn't do, but only after he watched MJ in the shower and she told him not to do it. His intention with it was never creepy. Really, the reason he did it was to make sure she was all right, but instead he found her crying.

"Once." he confessed. "Accidentally! I was still figuring things out back then. But I swear, I haven't done it since."

Ned appeared to accept his answer, moving on to his next question.

"How much can you tell from your senses right now?"

Peter closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath in an attempt to focus on the sounds around him.

"Mr. Harrington had a muffin for breakfast. I know he got it from the bakery down the street because I can smell the box it came in. It has the owner's perfume on it. It's in the garbage just outside the school. Cindy's been trying out a new shampoo. Abe just noticed it and she's happy he did. Now his heart is beating a little faster. Then there's the train coming our way. It's about... a mile away from here."

His senses were the one thing that didn't take a hit. Peter didn't sense anything he couldn't before he started growing weaker.

As predicted, they didn't even open their physics textbook during the study period, choosing to ask question back and forth - Ned about his powers and Peter on general knowledge that he should have possessed.

They were almost caught by the librarian after Ned challenged him to try and lift the bookcase (which Peter performed with ease), but they were able to convince her she was hearing things.

***

Drills during football practice after school felt strange to Peter.

He could still run his routes properly and catch the ball, but for the first time, he was truly afraid of getting hurt. How much weaker his body had grown over the weekend was unknown to him, and while getting tackled may not have caused any injuries, Peter was scared of feeling pain again.

During one run, Peter found two of his teammates in his way, prepared to tackle him. He could have simply avoided them with a quick dodge or taken the hit. Like a coward, he ran out of bounds.

When he felt no pain, he craved to feel something. Now that he had the ability to feel something, he hated it.

Peter just couldn't catch a break.

He got back into the receiver line next to Ned, pulling off his helmet. Peter thought he heard him speaking, but he tuned it out, turning his attention to the roof of Midtown. Squinting, he zoomed in on MJ, feeling less concerned with football now that he was looking at her.

There was one specific part of their talk that he couldn't get out of his mind.

"Hey, Ned," Peter whispered, reaching out an arm and pulling his best friend towards him. "when did you start liking Betty? You know, like... _really _liking her."

"I don't know." Ned shrugged. His casual demeanor disappeared a short moment later, his eyes widening when he remembered Peter's situation. "Where is this coming from?"

"Well, I..." he trailed off, shifting his focus between Ned and MJ. "I just learned some stuff about... people, I guess, and... I've kinda been wondering if -"

"Parker!" Coach Wilson shouted from the sidelines. "You're up! Get your head in the game!"

Peter apologized rapidly, pulling on his helmet and began running his route.

Why was he starting to see MJ in this way? Obviously, Peter liked her. He'd always liked her, and he'd always care about her. But apparently, there were multiple ways to define 'like'. Whatever this was, it was clear that the way he liked Ned and the way he liked MJ were not the same.


	19. Chapter 19

"We're going to be staying on the sixth floor of the hotel." Liz scanned the members of the decathlon team who were gathered around the table, making sure they were all writing down the information she was providing. "And we have six rooms reserved for the entire group. Since we have five boys and five girls, you'll be distributed in four groups. Two of three and two of two."

Their first Academic Decathlon meeting of the season was the day after next, and in true Liz Allan fashion, the entire week was on a very strict schedule, and no mistakes would be tolerated by their captain.

Since they were travelling to Pittsburgh, and it was almost a six hour drive, they would be leaving early tomorrow morning, get settled at the hotel, and waste no time in preparing for the competition.

Peter was told that these things usually lasted hours, and they would be lucky if they started on time. Because of this, they wouldn't get back to Queens until Thursday, meaning they were in for a two-day week. Obviously, they were thrilled at the prospect of a low-work week.

However, school policy demanded that at least two teachers accompany field trips, and the teacher selected just happened to be the one who disliked Peter and Ned above all other students: a recently hired woman who had come to Midtown after their favourite English teacher; Ms. Wallace had retired abruptly.

Ophelia Radcliffe, who seemed to be the least qualified teacher in the world.

Peter never judged people on their appearance, but the green streaks in her otherwise brown hair (which Peter swore looked synthetic) was something he never saw other teachers possess.

If there was one word he could use to describe Mrs. Radcliffe, it was robotic.

Never once did she have a smile on a face, and in one class, Ned managed to count the number of blinks she took on a single hand. On that day, when they were leaving, she actually commented on their activity, saying the phrase she used exclusively for the two of them: "I am _not _impressed."

Peter and Ned didn't even do anything to deserve the hatred from Mrs. Radcliffe. Like her, it just came out of nowhere.

"For the girls, Cindy and Sally will be in room six hundred and thirteen. Myself, Gwen, and Michelle will be just beside them in room six hundred and fifteen. Boys are on the opposite side of the hallway. Abe, Charles, and Flash are in room six hundred and fourteen. Peter and Ned, you're in six hundred and sixteen."

Of course, he knew why it had to be Mrs. Radcliffe. One male teacher supervised the boys, and held the responsibility of going through their belongings to make sure they weren't sneaking anything into the hotel. One female teacher did the same for the girls. And seeing that all ten of the decathlon members were in her class, it made perfect sense for her to come along.

All logic aside, Peter found himself banging his head against the wall at night, asking himself _why did it have to be her?_

"The bus is arriving tomorrow at eight o'clock, and I want us to leave as soon as possible. Give yourself enough time to get ready in the morning, and be outside of the school at seven fifty - no later than that. I've also made a list of things you should bring with you that we might need."

As Liz distributed another sheet of paper to the team members, Peter simply crumpled it up and stuffed it in his pocket, going back to sulking over his current predicament. Ned's mood was also poor, and he swore that they were having their own mental conversation.

They briefly glanced at each other, then to the corner of the library where Mr. Harrington and Mrs. Radcliffe were supervising their meeting. Although their math teacher was speaking, her eyes were on the two of them, paying no attention to him. No blinking, no smile, no emotion.

Seriously, did she even breath?

Radcliffe crosser her arms, gesturing to Liz with her eyes to silently tell them to pay attention. Simultaneously, they rolled their eyes, hoping she would notice, and returned their focus to their captain.

"Last but not least, the team that comes first in the competition will be taken on a tour of the city, so that's something to look forward to. But lets try to focus more on moving on to the next round instead of the reward. That'll be all, and I'll see you all tomorrow morning. Be - on - time."

Peter wondered why they had to hold these meetings after school. He was shocked to find out that it was even allowed. Up until that point, he was under the impression that the final bell meant they could leave, and the teachers couldn't hold them there against their will.

Faster than anyone else, Peter and Ned picked up their bags and got up from the table, rushing to the door before the others - especially Mrs. Radcliffe - could stop them. They didn't look back, closing the library door behind them just in case they needed to slow down any followers.

He thought they were in the clear, until he heard the door reopen behind them.

They stopped in their tracks, expecting to see the new English teacher right on their tail as the sound of boots moving across the floor. Thankfully, it was only MJ

"Where are you guys going?"

The truth was that they weren't only trying to get away from Mrs. Radcliffe, and Peter wasn't as eager to go back to the apartment as he let MJ think. These days, there were things Peter and Ned prioritized over school work and Academic Decathlon meetings. Things MJ couldn't be a part of yet.

"We're still working on our presentation for computer science." Ned fibbed. "Peter's coming over to my place so we can finish tonight and hand it in before we leave tomorrow."

Her eyes darted between them, worrying them that she was about to call their bluff. Still, there was no solid proof she could use to do so. The reason they decided to use computer science as an excuse was because that was the only class she didn't have with them.

"That's... what you've been doing all week." she observed. "I thought you would have been finished by now. You know. since you've been working on it for so long."

The first night Peter and Ned were 'working on their project', he didn't make it back to the apartment until seven o'clock. When MJ asked him where he had been spending all his time, he answered, and she seemed to accept his lie. However, as they used the same excuse more and more that week, MJ's suspicions grew. Still, she asked no questions.

"Hang on..." Ned started to realize. "how do you know how long he spends at my place?"

The expression on MJ's face remained neutral. She said nothing to either one of them, walked between the two and heading for her usual exit. Right there, she almost slipped up, potentially giving away a clue to their true living situation.

She wasn't the only one in Peter's life who was beginning to discover a secret about him. Ned actually _had _been asking questions, mainly regarding MJ and her mysterious lifestyle, even before Peter had shown up. He found that Ned was equally curious regarding S.H.I.E.L.D. and the agents who rescued him.

The only thing Peter asked in return was why MJ was wearing her hair differently.

Honestly, he thought her hair looked nice no matter how it was styled, but the latest version caught him off guard at first. On Sunday morning, Peter was where he usually was; in the kitchen, trying to get breakfast for the two of them. When he saw her that morning, he _really _saw her.

MJ no longer had half of her face covered by a mess of curls, and what surprised him even more was that it wasn't just a one-time thing. Peter expected MJ to wake up the next morning, and look like her old self. When she didn't, he realized that it was here to stay, and he wasn't complaining.

He actually enjoyed being able to see more of her, but no one else he talked to seemed to care.

"Do you think she's been following us?" Ned asked as they watched her walk away, disappearing behind the door. Peter blinked, looking through the wall to keep his eyes locked on her, barely able to hear his next words. "Dude!" Ned nudged him to get his attention. "What do you think?"

"About MJ?" he confirmed. "She's... I don't think we have to worry about her yet."

***

Peter ducked under the ropes and stepped into the ring, tightening the straps in his gloves and getting into his stance. He raised his fists, getting into his guard position, keeping one hand in front of his torso and the other by his chin.

"New strategy?" Steve asked from the corner, putting on his own gloves.

MJ still didn't know about his powers becoming weaker, and while Tony and Bruce were still in the process of building a new pod for him, the Avengers insisted on beginning to train Peter. That was what he and Ned had been up to all week, trying to improve his fighting skills even without his powers.

"I think I'm finally catching on." he nodded.

Steve had gotten into position as well, preparing to strike. Thanks to Ned taking notes during all their sessions, they were certain that they figured out a way to at least hold their own. More often than not, Steve landed the first blow, meaning it would be a better idea to start off defending rather than attacking right away.

Peter saw the fist coming for his face, blocking it successfully. That left him open on the left side, and Steve's kicked him in the ribs, causing him to stumble back.

"Don't use your hands when you can just move out of the way." his opponent instructed.

Shaking this off, he got back into position, forgetting about his defensive strategy and going back to the only thing he knew: punching his way out of everything.

Steve however took advantage of this. Before he knew what was happening, his wrist was grabbed, and he was slammed to the ground. Peter groaned in pain, but he was also getting angry.

"It doesn't matter how much strength you have, kid. People will be able to use it against you if they know what they're doing. Stop telegraphing your next move, and don't keep yourself in a routine. Make your strikes quick, and you'll overwhelm your opponent."

Peter took a moment to breath, trying to get his emotions under control. He struggled with this over the past week, growing more sensitive to every little noise. Without the proper energy in his system, Peter was letting his anger guide him in his fights instead of thinking straight.

"I'll be fine once I get my powers back." Peter tried to jab at his face, and unlike himself, Steve dodged it with ease.

"Well, maybe this is the best thing that could have happened to you."

Steve swept his leg in an attempt to trip him, but he jumped, avoiding another mistake. Peter noticed that there was an opening during Steve's period of getting back into his stance, and he landed a shot to the body.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Because the strong man who has known power all his life may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion. That's what Dr. Erskine told me before the procedure. Whenever I'm about to do something, I try to remember that. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

It reminded him of the phrase Aunt May quoted so much; the words her husband lived by. Peter had never met Ben Parker, but based on the stories he heard from May and the words of wisdom, the man held a special place in his heart.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

Peter had been thinking of that quite a bit lately. Specifically with what he was going to do once he got his powers back to their full strength. He didn't want to let them go to waste. He didn't see it as a choice, but an obligation to use them for other people. Yet Peter didn't want to be an Avenger.

They did good things for people everywhere, and that was incredible. Still, he noticed that there were a lot of bad things going on in peoples neighbourhoods. There weren't enough people trying to help out the little guy. The Avengers were a little too... renowned to deal with that sort of stuff.

Why couldn't he just try to help people by himself? Kind of like a Friendly Neighbourhood... something.

Turning his focus back onto the fight, Peter managed to evade all of the Captain's strikes, but was unable to land any of his own. It was still a major improvement from the start of their sessions. Peter spent more times getting knocked on his ass than he could count.

Fighting against Captain America was probably the best way they could have started. If Peter had to fight anyone else while he was weakened, it would without a doubt be way easier. As far as he was concerned, losing all the time was time well-spent.

***

MJ knew that Peter and Ned weren't really working on a project for computer science.

Those two were not only terrible liars, but it was impossible to hide anything from Michelle Jones. By blood, she was a Fury, which came with an obsession to find out the truth about everything while keeping everything about herself a secret.

They didn't even choose a good lie.

MJ was able to figure out that they weren't telling the truth using far less complicated methods than she was used to. All she had to do was ask their teacher the next morning. He ended up talking her ear off and showing her dozens of pictures of his wife and grandchildren, but in her mind, it was a price worth paying.

After some time passed, she finally got the answer she was looking for: Peter and Ned had no project, which could only mean they were hiding something from her. And it had to be an important 'something', because Peter never lied to her.

It was the only thing on her mind during her Peter-less walks home, going over every possible situation that would have justified lying to her. Not only that, but she missed being with Peter after school. Very few words were spoken during their walks, but it was his company the meant the most to her.

Pulling out the apartment key from her pocket, she slipped it into the lock, prepared to enter the code, but the keypad didn't pop out of the wall as it was supposed to.

Weird.

MJ tried again, pulling it out for a few moments then putting it back in, and still nothing happened. She tapped the panel a couple of times to inspect it, and the results were the same.

"We changed the system again." an emotionless voice said from behind her, causing her to freeze, tears building up in her eyes. "Bring your eye to the peephole."

She bent down slightly, following the instruction without hesitation. A red light flashed in her eye, and the panel popped out. A gloved hand reached from behind her, entering the new code: 9 - 9 - 8 - 6 - 1 - 2. Completely random, having no significance to them.

"Get inside." a second voice - a female one - instructed.

On the verge of crying, MJ turned the handle, marching into her apartment followed by her mother and father. Fury closed the door behind them, locking it. Without a single word, they sat down in the living room, and gestured for her to take a place on the couch across from them.

MJ refused to make eye contact with them, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stay strong if she did. The care she once had for them was gone, but that didn't mean the fear had left her. That seemed impossible to overcome.

"Pittsburgh." Hill said.

Immediately, the words Liz had spoken last week came into her mind. _"Our first meeting is next week. It was originally going to be here in New York, but the organizers decided to move it to Pittsburgh." "They decided to remain anonymous. But apparently, money isn't a problem for them."_

"What's the assignment?" MJ responded, now understanding everything.

"You'll be breaking into another Hydra facility." her father answered. "Do _not_ be seen. Do _not _kill anyone. Do _not _let your classmates know of your absence. Get inside, recover as much information as you can from their servers, and get out. Further details will be provided tomorrow. Make sure you're inside your hotel room at midnight, and make sure your roommates are asleep. Slip some of this in their food, and it should do the trick."

Hill took out a small bottle from her jacket, no bigger than her pinky finger, and tossed it to MJ. She removed the cap, inhaling the substance, but smelled nothing. She hated Gwen, but she knew no pleasure would come from doing this to her.

"Is that it, then?" MJ asked, wanting nothing more in that moment than for them to leave.

Fury removed his sunglasses (which was always his choice of eyewear when he went out in public), standing up from his chair to walk over to her.

"Almost." He looked down at his watch, appearing to be waiting for something. "Twenty-four seconds. Come, follow, and make sure you look happy."

MJ dried her eyes with her sleeves, hurrying after her parents who were already at the door. How could she even pretend to be happy when they were here? Why would they be asking this of her? What was even the purpose?

Fury and Hill each went to one side of her, putting fake smiles on and placing their arms around their daughter. She flinched at the contact, shaking, but her mother squeezed her shoulder, digging her nails into the skin as a warning. MJ got the message, and returned to the charade.

The family stood in front of the elevator, counting down the remaining time. Once she reached zero in her head, there was a ding, and the door slid open. It was Aunt May who was on the other side, just getting home from her shift.

"Mrs. Parker," Fury said as if he was surprised. "it must be our lucky day, we weren't expecting to run into you."

MJ tried to hide her discomfort, but was afraid she was failing. The scariest thing about her mother and father wasn't the things they did to her, but that they could appear normal, and even charming whenever they wanted. If they were actually capable of acting like that, why couldn't they do that for her?

"Oh, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Jones!" May greeted happily. The thing that she loved about her next door neighbour was that she was genuine. She was kind just because she could be. Completely opposite from her parents. "It's been too long!"

May stepped out of the elevator, placing her bag down in the middle of the hallway and hugging her mother. They barely knew one another, but that was just the kind of person May was. She loved people. It didn't help that Hill had been building up a fake-friendship with her for years.

"I agree." Fury laughed. "We'd love to stay and chat, but we just got back from our trip, and we thought it would be a nice idea to take our little girl out to dinner. But what do you say? Should catch up sometime soon?"

"That sounds lovely." she said, picking up her bag from the floor and gesturing to her apartment. "Anyway, I'll let you guys get to it. Call me crazy, but I can't remember the last time I saw you all together."

Fury stepped into the elevator with Hill, pulling MJ with him, but it couldn't be seen from the angle Aunt May was at. He pressed the button, and just as the door closed, he said "Funny how time flies."

When they could no longer be seen, they let go of their daughter, and their pleasant faces turned sour. Now, everything was back to normal. At least as normal as it was with Nick Fury and Maria Hill.

"It's important to keep a cover going for as long as possible." her mother explained. "Stay out of the apartment for a few hours so she'll think we're really out at dinner."

They exited the building quickly, jumping into the SUV that was parked outside, not even paying attention to MJ calling after them, asking where she was supposed to go or how she was supposed to pass the time.

There was no point in asking. She knew this, but tried anyway, practically begging for them to listen to her. MJ realized what she was acting like: a puppy who got kicked too often, but kept coming back to the table for scraps, hoping that one time would be different.

MJ clenched her fists, running to grab the car door right before it closed. Her mother and father raised their eyebrows at her, waiting for her next words. She didn't know what she wanted to say, but if she wanted to do something, it had to be the first thing to pop into her head.

"Fuck you!" she screamed, voice breaking. "Both of you!"

Without another word, she slammed the door in their faces, storming off down the sidewalk. MJ took the next turn she could, heading down the nearest alley, and once she was certain her parents couldn't see her, she began weeping. MJ dropped to her knees, cradling her head in her hands as she leaned against the wall.

***

Gideon Malick sat enveloped in darkness, gazing at the screens upon the wall, each one of them containing a friend of Hydra. He pressed a single button, and the images of Grant Ward and Mrs. Radcliffe appeared.

"Peter Parker is currently being observed by two of our operatives. Of course, you already know of Agent Ward, but I thought it better to... expand our operation. If you're familiar with the work of Dr. Holden Radcliffe and his Life-Model Decoys, you should also be familiar with A.I.D.A."

Two other agents came into the room, dragging the lifeless body of Ms. Wallace into view by the wrists, presenting it to the viewers.

"With a few _strings_ pulled here and there, we now have a way to obtain inside knowledge of Peter Parker's school life as well. Unfortunately, A.I.D.A. is the only remaining LMD, so we can no longer replace people to gain knowledge. However, I assure you that her current position will yield fantastic results."

"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, Mr. Malick," one of the men on the call interjected. "but you haven't exactly told us what the goal is here. You promised us more, and we haven't received anything. For God's sake, you said it would take a mere five hundred million dollars to bring Parker into the world, and your little science experiment not only failed, but cost more than double the projections. Now, I ask that you show more leadership, or I will walk from this operation, and I guarantee that more will -"

He didn't get to finish his speech. There was a bang from behind him, and a bullet went through his head, blood covering the lens of the camera. The shooter stepped forward, removing the doubter from his chair and taking his place.

"Doubt will only lead to failure." Malick grinned, raising a glass. "Hail Hydra."

"Hail Hydra." they all echoed, too afraid to oppose him now.


	20. Chapter 20

The bus ride to Pittsburgh was nothing short of disastrous.

For Peter, the day had been going downhill from the moment he opened his eyes. He quickly discovered that his physical state had gotten progressively worse as the night passed. His entire body ached - especially in his knees. When Peter attempted to view the damage, he was met with another problem.

His x-ray vision wasn't working.

Peter then realized that every other sense was brought down to a more human level. He looked out his window and could only see clearly for about twenty feet instead of twenty miles. He couldn't hear MJ's heartbeat in the next room or Aunt May's across the hall. He couldn't smell the disgusting cat food coming from the neighbour's apartment just below them.

Because MJ seemed to be in a rather poor mood that morning, she didn't question his subtle limp during their walk to school, and she hardly took notice to the fact that he ran into a telephone poll.

Ned remarked that they should get him a pair of glasses, but it couldn't have been done on such short notice.

Radcliffe was her usual self on the bus; targeting Peter and Ned above all other students, promising detention for the two of them over minor offenses, such as talking too loudly and disturbing their driver or putting their feet up on the seat in front of them (which was unoccupied).

The driver - who happily introduced himself as Stan as they arrived at the rest stop - pulled Peter and Ned to the side afterwards to say that he wasn't bothered in the slightest by their 'loud' conversation, and even found it interesting.

Their hated teacher was unaffected by this information.

It took more than a simple scolding from Radcliffe to qualify the trip as a disaster, because for Peter and Ned, it was an everyday occurrence for them.

The real issue came with the decathlon team's practice.

No one on the team was performing well that morning. MJ didn't speak a single word. Peter's head hurt too much to think straight. Ned spent all his time trying to help him get through the pain. Abe and Cindy couldn't stop giving each other 'googly eyes' as Flash put it, and he kept making jokes in substitute for the actual answers. Gwen was excused so she could text her parents regarding a family emergency. Finally, Charles and Sally got nearly every question wrong.

Liz was fuming by the end, and gave up to sit far from everyone else for the rest of the journey. Unfortunately, it didn't stop her from giving them study tips, which was a most annoying experience that Peter would have happily traded all of his limbs to avoid.

His logic was that without legs, his knees wouldn't have been in such pain.

The decathlon team didn't arrive at their hotel until a little bit after five o'clock - far beyond the predicted travel time of six hours. Peter was starting to learn that traffic was quite difficult to account for.

As they headed for the entrance, his vision was now a complete blur. Peter's shoelace became caught on something he could not see, and in the blink of an eye, he fell face-first onto the ground.

"You've got to be shitting me." he muttered under his breath, trying to conceal the small cut on his face and the scrape on his elbows.

"You need to pay more attention to your surroundings, Mr. Parker." Radcliffe said in a bored expression. She was no doubt going to speak again, but fell silent once she saw his minor injuries, curiosity spreading to her sour face. "You're... hurt?"

"Nothing gets past you, does it? It's nothing, really."

She grabbed him by the chin, her pupils growing smaller, and for the first time, Radcliffe blinked. Of course, she was the teacher who took pleasure in seeing students in distress. Mr. Harrington on the other hand, dropped everything to check on him, successfully drawing the attention of the rest of the group; including MJ.

"I could do without the attitude, Mr. Parker."

Ned - not knowing that MJ was in on his secret as well - didn't waste any time trying to tell everyone that Peter had been unwell for the past few days. He wished he could have seen her expression. Was she worried, or angry? What if she was both?

After checking in at the front desk (where there was a purposefully large distance between Peter and MJ), Mr. Harrington instructed the boys to escort Peter to his room to help him clean up, while the girls were left behind to have their bags examined by Radcliffe.

"Some things are more important than that." Harrington cheerfully told his colleague as they watched them enter the elevator. "Besides, I'm sure they didn't bring anything that they shouldn't have."

They couldn't hear her response since the elevator door cut her off, but it most certainly wasn't good.

Room six hundred and sixteen on the sixth floor was the room they would be staying in; a room connected with Abe, Charles, and Flash in the room just beside them.

Charles - having both parents as doctors - was naming off potential illnesses that could have fit Peter's condition, heavily leaning towards extreme fatigue from balancing football practice, a new school, and decathlon all at once.

To his credit, all this was happening due to Peter's lack of proper energy.

Assuring them that he would be able to do it himself, the other three boys departed to unpack their belongings while Peter and Ned closed the bathroom door, turning on the cold water in the sink and letting it run.

"Don't worry about a thing." Ned said as Peter desperately drank the now ice-cold liquid to sustain himself. "One night back in your pod, and you'll be -"

He slammed his fist against the marble counter, his strength returning for a moment, but disappearing as quickly as it had come.

"What if I don't want to go back?!" he snapped. "What if... why do you think they're helping me, Ned? Do you really think they're just going to do this for me?"

"Peter -"

"I was _made_ by the bad guys, Ned, so there has to be something wrong with me. Sure, they read my mind, but there could be stuff inside me that even I don't know about..." Peter tilted his head and pushed away a portion of his hair which had become increasingly longer, revealing the small Hydra tattoo located right by his earlobe. "I mean, look at this! They didn't just put this here for show."

It didn't bother Peter at first, but with the dreaded day fast approaching, it was rarely not on his mind. The Avengers could have easily left him in the pod for days, weeks, months, or even years before they set him free. There was a chance they never let him go, and there wouldn't be anything he could do to stop it.

A very small chance, yes, but it was one he was afraid to take.

At the same time, Peter knew that if he continued going on without taking care of himself, he would surely die. There had to be another way to get his powers back.

"They can't make you do anything, Peter." Ned said as a matter of fact, although deep down he must have known it couldn't be completely true.

"But what if they made me hurt you?" he asked, no longer facing him. Peter held his elbow underneath the water and it began healing rapidly. Still, a small red mark remained in its place. "Remember, that's what I was created to do. All I've ever done is hurt people. Whenever I try to help, people are afraid of me. You were afraid too."

"Yeah, well... it's not every day I see someone take a bullet." he joked, trying to bring up his spirits. Peter actually found himself smiling. "And who cares if people don't like you? If only you did good things to be liked, you'd be doing it for the wrong reasons. You're too good to go bad, even if you've been programmed that way. I'm sure of it."

He hoped it was true. Even then, that wouldn't stop the Avengers from finding out more about him when he was in his pod. Peter understood why they would want to. At his best, nothing could hurt him. Nothing yet, anyway.

There was something Radcliffe said in one of their classes that got him thinking about this: _All you have to do is forge a silver bullet, then you won't have to depend upon the kindness of monsters._

"I guess you're right." Peter took a towel to dry off his face, running his hands through his hair to keep it messy and cover up the tattoo on the back of his head. "How do I look?"

"You've looked worse." Ned said carefully. "Have you ever thought about getting a haircut?"

MJ tried a couple weeks back. She broke three pairs of scissors.

"I'll get around to it eventually."

Peter and Ned didn't leave their room for a while. He wanted to keep MJ at a distance for as long as possible, and avoid any scolding from Liz. Abe, Charles, and Flash all had the same kind of fear for their captain, agreeing to keep their phones turned off to avoid angry calls and the doors locked.

Much to everyone's surprise, Flash was actual nice to them. Definitely more soft-spoken as opposed to his usual cocky attitude.

Spending time with the other boys was a near-perfect distraction for Peter and his troubles. Since the hotel had been paid for in advance by someone with a considerable amount of money, the food was free to take, which proved to briefly satisfy his extreme hunger.

"Come on, Peter," Abe repeated. "truth or dare?"

The concept of the game they were playing was particularly difficult to grasp. However, the others seemed to be having great fun, so he simply had to go along with it. As far as he could tell, truth or dare was the only was he could answer, hence the title of the game. Based on the actions previously performed by the boys, everything else was completely random.

"I don't know." he shrugged. "Truth?"

Abe looked down briefly, then his head shot back up happily.

"What is the biggest lie you've ever told anyone in this room?"

_Oh, I don't know, _Peter thought to himself, _murdering S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents comes to mind. Also I'm less than a year old, I <strike>have</strike> used to have super powers, and I'm not even a real person."_

"Remember," Ned cut in, noticing his nervousness. "You don't have to answer, but if you don't, you have to drink some of this."

He tossed him a jar of hot sauce that neither person had touched, and without thinking, Peter took off the cap and took a massive gulp, and began to sweat, face growing red. They all cheered, so he must have made the right decision.

"Now you have to ask someone else." Ned patted him on the back as he coughed. "But it can't be Abe."

Peter didn't get the chance to get a legitimate feel for truth or dare, because in less than an hour, Mr. Harrington knocked on their door to tell them they were heading out for dinner.

"Fun while it lasted." he told himself as he pulled on his tattered red hoodie.

He made it out of the room before anyone else, stopping in his tracks as he saw Michelle, Gwen, and Liz leave their residence.

Peter didn't say a word. In an ideal situation, he would have hurried down the hall, pressed the button to the elevator and left them alone, but that would have come off as suspicious to the other two. But with Gwen and Liz there, she couldn't talk to him without revealing her own secret. For now, he was in the clear, just as long as he had someone else at his side.

"Well, Mr. Parker," Radcliffe came between them with her arms crossed. "if I'm not mistaking, this is the first time you've been early for something. Now, if you could be as eager to get to my class as you are to eat, we would have far less problems."

If it wasn't for his headache, he would have chosen his words more carefully.

"Make your class interesting, then we'll talk."

She raised a finger at him as a warning, glaring.

"Not another wisecrack from you, or we'll be having a very long meeting with Principal Morita once we return to Midtown."

Peter couldn't resist.

"Oh, so you have to go crawling to the principal when you aren't good enough to do your job?"

Really, it was a blessing in disguise with his mouth no longer having a filter. Despite the fact he got his detention increased exponentially, Radcliffe didn't let him out of her sight for the entire evening, and MJ didn't get a chance to talk to him.

***

Liz and Gwen were snoring loudly.

It was nearing midnight, and MJ had been sitting in a chair beside the hotel window for the better part of three hours, staring out at the darkening street, periodically glancing towards the door waiting for her equipment to arrive.

With Mrs. Radcliffe going through her belongings, MJ's weapons were being dropped off by another agent along with the assignment information.

The bottle her mother provided her with yesterday proved to be extremely effective. One drop of the colourless liquid inside the drinks of her roommates, and they were knocked out cold, showing no signs of getting up any time soon.

MJ's watch turned to twelve o'clock, and right on cue, there was a knock on her door.

On the other side, no one was there. Right MJ's feet was a large black duffle bag with a file carefully placed on top. She dragged it inside, closing the curtains before turning on the lights.

_Head down to the parking garage across the street. There, you will find a bike waiting for you that has been modified to be silent. Located just beneath the throttle is a flash drive, large enough to contain the information you need to gather from Hydra's servers. The objective has changed slightly. Take nothing else except for the files associated with the PRIME experiment. Burn this file upon completion._

Along with the message were the buildings blueprints, quickest exits and vents specifically marked by S.H.I.E.L.D. Since the last assignment had been accurate, there was no reason to doubt it this time. MJ took out her watch from the duffle bag and took photos of all the pages.

Buried underneath the guns in the bag, she pulled out her suit and began to get changed. It was nothing special, but it got the job done, allowing her to move freely while providing a bit of protection.

To cover the S.H.I.E.L.D. symbol on her arm, MJ put a hoodie on top and pulled up her hood, heading out the door.

For the second time that day, she ran into Peter leaving his own room with the other boys, staring at each other in panic.

"Where are you going?" Ned asked fearfully.

"I'm going to study in the business centre." she answered after a couple seconds of hesitation. "And yourselves?"

"Heading down to the pool." Flash said. "Peter told us he never learned how to swim, so we thought it was a good idea. I tried texting the girls to invite them, but we're pretty sure their phones are turned off. Are they all right in there?"

"They're asleep. And I'll save you the trouble from asking me. No, I don't want to go. Just try not to do anything stupid."

That comment was enough to get them to depart, practically dancing toward the elevator in a manner that suggested they indeed _were _ going to do something stupid.

MJ knew she had very little time on her hands, so she had to keep this conversation very short.

Grabbing Peter forcefully by the arm, she called out to the others that he would meet them downstairs, then dragged him into his room.

"Look, MJ, I -"

"What's going on?!" she shrieked.

Peter immediately shrank, looking down at the ground with his hands jammed into his pockets.

"You're doing your job now, aren't you?"

"Don't - change - the subject. Just tell me what's happening!" MJ dropped her bag on the floor and placed her hands on his face, examining him closely for more injuries. "You're okay, right? How long has this been going on?"

Peter pulled away, sighing.

"A little over a week. Don't worry, I went to Mr. Stark when I found out something was wrong. They say they're trying to help me."

He quickly explained that his body mainly relied on the extreme cold in substitute for food, and claimed that he had not received a wound worse than the scrape earlier that day. MJ wasn't quick to believe him on that.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry." he said as he finished the story. "I mean, I would have done it eventually. Not until it was fixed."

MJ looked down at her watch, eyes widening when she realized how much time had passed. No matter how much she wanted to stay, she couldn't.

"This isn't over, Peter. We'll be talking more when I finish" MJ held up her bag. "work."

***

Due to the unexpected events of the day, MJ found herself with her own agenda during the assignment.

There had to be something at the facility that could have helped Peter get his powers back, or maybe feel a little less out of sorts. Any information on him would have been considered a win in her book, considering the fact that they still knew very little about him.

According to the blueprints, she was just below her destination, and the analysts were almost certain that it was where the Hydra files were kept. If history taught them anything, the flash drive was useless since Hydra kept written files, but the duffle bag would probably be big enough to accommodate.

MJ quietly opened the vent and dropped down to the floor, shooting the other woman in her presence with her I.C.E.R. before she was spotted.

Lo and behold, there were no computers in the room. What actually resided were hundreds if not thousands of file cabinets, organized alphabetically and spanning from one wall to the other.

_PRIME _had to be found before Peter, and it wasn't difficult to do so. MJ discovered it seconds after opening the first cabinet, stuffing it in her back without looking inside. She didn't need to know why her parents were interested in it, but she did question it for a moment. The file was remarkably light, and couldn't have been more than a few pages long; clearly a project in its early stages.

Peter, she knew, would be near impossible to discover amongst the sea of files. She didn't actually know what name he was given while at Hydra. Malick only ever called him _It _or _the experiment._

It was a massive risk to spend time searching, but in her mind, a risk that was necessary.


	21. Chapter 21

To Liz, Michelle Jones was many things: a genius, terrifying, mysterious, - and at the moment - missing.

She knew Michelle was a highly unusual girl in many ways.

For one thing, her body appeared to be injured quite frequently. Small bruises on her arms and some near her neck were common. Then there were the occasional cuts here and there, paired with the rumours of scars coming from the change rooms. Not one person in Midtown dared to question her on the matter. They were all too afraid to hear the answer.

For another, she disappeared from school randomly on a daily basis.

Still, in all her years as captain of the Academic Decathlon Team, Liz never once knew Michelle to miss an official meet.

Until today, it seemed.

Liz didn't remember going to bed that night. Everything after dinner had apparently been wiped from her mind completely. On the other hand, Gwen's memory was a bit more intact, claiming that Michelle had helped them back to their room, and said something about the food carrying some sort of bug.

Realizing that her bed had not been slept in that night, they didn't waste any time in tearing apart the hotel room. Michelle couldn't be found in the bathroom, or hiding in any of the closets (in true Michelle fashion, they assumed she was playing a prank on them).

"Have you tried texting her?" Gwen proposed, falling back onto her bed with a thud, still exhausted from the night before.

"I don't have her phone number." Liz pointed out. Every year, she would pass around a sheet to each member of the team to put down their name, email address, and phone number. Her logic was that they could better organize their meetings if they could reach each other in seconds. Every year, Michelle put down the same thing: a ridiculous fake name, and a surprisingly well-drawn middle finger. "Does anyone?"

"Well, if anyone in the school would, it would be Ned. You know, they've been sitting together at lunch for years. And I think Peter's pretty good friends with her too. If worse comes to worse, you could just ask Betty. At least one of them has to have her number."

Of those three options, Peter was the most likely. He was clearly the closest to Michelle despite their two months in knowing each other. Come to think of it - by Michelle standards at least - they were as close as two people could be (not counting Peter and Ned). He was the only one she didn't give a death glare. She never once insulted him to his face or behind his back. And remarkably, he always referred to her as 'MJ', and she even allowed it.

Liz hadn't given it much thought until now.

She obviously wasn't the only girl in school who had a tiny crush on him at the beginning of the year, and Michelle may have been included in that group. However, Liz and plenty of others found that the infatuation with Peter faded quite quickly.

Peter's childlike cluelessness towards things was one of the many things that turned people off from him.

Liz smacked herself internally, realizing that she was giving this too much thought. The decathlon meet started in less than two hours, and she was one member down. And of all the ones who could have gone missing, it had to be their smartest.

"Why couldn't it be _Flash?" _she said with a groan, marching across the hallway and knocking on Peter and Ned's door.

There was the unmistakable sound of someone hitting the floor on the other side. Seconds later, the door was opened by Peter, who looked absolutely terrible. If Liz had to guess, he hadn't gotten much sleep that night, and her early morning visit didn't help.

While she didn't want to bring it up yesterday out of kindness, he was almost unrecognizable from the day they first met, and today was so much worse. Peter was so pale that one would have thought he was deceased, and shivering on the spot. Gone was his muscular physique, leaving behind an alarmingly skinny little boy.

"Are you all right?" Liz became slightly sidetracked from her original objective, her mind racing to figure out what had happened to Peter.

He weakly ran a hand through his hair, brushing off her question.

"Just a bit tired." Peter's voice came out far less coherent than usual. If she wasn't so close, it would have sounded more like a series of animalistic grunts. "Why are you awake this early? Is something wrong?"

Liz couldn't help but feel guilty, but she couldn't change things now.

"Uh, sort of. It's about Michelle." Peter perked up at the very mention of her name. Whether it was happiness or worry was difficult to tell. "She wasn't in the room with us and went can't find her anywhere. We thought you might have her number so we could text her."

Peter let out a dry cough, shaking his head.

"Text? You mean... like with those _phones?"_

She nodded.

"I don't have one of those things."

What kind of sixteen year old boy didn't have a phone? And why did he phrase it in that way? Why - never mind. Once again, Liz was getting distracted by the wrong thing.

"Okay then. Does Ned - I mean... do you think he might be able to get a hold of Michelle?"

They both looked back into the room to see a figure fast asleep on the other bed, snoring loudly. By the look of things, it would have proven to be a very difficult task to wake him up, and Liz didn't want to ruin another person's morning.

"I don't think so. I'm sorry, Liz."

What did she expect? The best she could do was hope and pray Michelle would show up before the meet started, and prepare for the worst.

With Michelle gone, her first choice would to have her replaced by Peter, but he was clearly in no condition to participate. As hard as it would be, he had to be put on the bench.

The one thing that gave her some hope was that Cindy, Abe, Charles, and Sally were all pretty well-rounded. However, none of them were as smart as Michelle, and no one would be able to match her in history.

If she didn't show up (which was starting to look even more likely), that meant Liz would have to reshuffle the entire lineup. Figuring out who worked best with each other would be very difficult, especially with the limited time on her hands.

Liz returned to her room, retrieving her phone from the bedside table. She sat on the edge of her mattress and typed out a message to Betty.

_Michelle is missing.  
Do you know where I can get her number?  
_

It didn't take long for her friend to reply.

_no idea  
do you think she's ok?_

In all honesty, Liz didn't know what to think. Leaving in the middle of the night without a note or any other type of information didn't look good.

_I hope so.  
Besides, it's not the first time she's disappeared._

_yeah but every time her parents signed her out for the day  
_

About to lecture Betty for the millionth time about not capitalizing at the start of her sentence, Liz paused, reading over the previous text.

It couldn't be true. Every time Michelle returned from doing God knows what, she was lectured by her teachers. If she really had her parent's permission to be leaving school, it wouldn't have been an issue.

_Who did you hear that from?_

Betty started typing, and the answer that came shouldn't have been a surprise.

_peter_

The fact that it came from Peter didn't mean it was true, but he had no reason to lie. Not to Betty, and especially not to Ned.

Assuming it was true, Michelle's parents were taking her out of school for an unreasonable amount of time, and she was suffering some serious injuries during that time. They couldn't have been abusing her, Liz thought. But was there a chance? It was a grave assumption to make, with little to no evidence to support the idea.

_What did he say, exactly?_

_i can't remember word for word_  
_he was kind of nonchalant about it_  
_at lunch we were talking about michelle leaving and it just came up i guess_

"Gwen?" Liz nudged the other girl with her foot. "Have you ever seen Michelle's parents?"

"One time, maybe." she shrugged. "I think it was at a parent-teacher interview night. My dad thought they were really nice, but they looked kind of creepy. Mr. Jones kept his sunglasses on the whole time, and Mrs. Jones had this really weird smile. You know how it is; when you're little, almost every adult seems strange. Why do you ask?"

"I'm a little worried about her."

The decathlon team had always been worried about Michelle in one way or another, but they never suspected a poor life at home.

Where could she have gone in the middle of the night? What was she doing? Was she even okay?

***

"This is very different from the kind of missions you're used to." Agent Ward addressed the Hydra strike team. He waved his hand over the Holotable, a map appearing before them. "No targets this time, it's a simple recovery mission. Last night, at approximately 0100 hours, two files were stolen by a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, who we believe to have identified as Michelle Jones."

Another swipe, and her image became projected next to the map along with Peter and Ned's.

"Two persons of interest; Ned Leeds, and the asset, Peter Parker. We've been instructed by Malick to keep all three alive. No harm can come to them."

Ward couldn't understand why they were so important, especially the girl. The Last Head of Hydra never hesitated to kill an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Even more peculiar, Malick seemed to fear for his life at the mention of Peter.

He had heard stories of the boy's abilities, but after watching him for weeks, Ward wasn't convinced. This was a boy who was incapable of hurting a fly. Peter looked too sick to do so. And someone who treated his aunt like that couldn't be dangerous.

"This morning, they're set to participate in an Academic Decathlon meet which we've rigged for them to win. We don't have enough prep time ambush them at the hotel, so we're going to strike at the museum in four hours - which they would only get to if they win. I want the exits covered, and security paid off. And make sure their phones are confiscated. We can't risk them calling for help."

Malick didn't tell them what files they were after; only that Michelle would keep them on her person. Whatever they contained; he was clearly desperate. When the usually calm and collected man heard what was stolen, he panicked, and hastily put together the assignment.

Whatever plans he had for Peter; Ward was no longer sure he wanted to be a part of them.


	22. Chapter 22

Midtown had won the Academic Decathlon meet by an overwhelming margin of victory, and it didn't make any sense.

The questions on their papers were clearly different from that of other schools. Judges showed more favour to Midtown during the sudden death round, running out the clock for other teams at an almost criminal rate. Liz and the other four starters didn't get a single question marked wrong, even though it was painfully obvious they were.

The team was far from full-strength. Michelle had indeed arrived just in time to participate, but her head wasn't in the game. Whatever had occurred on her latest assignment had left her distracted.

Earlier that morning, Liz had told him that she would have to put him on the sidelines, saying that he was in no condition to participate. Peter didn't blame her for the decision.

From his seat behind all the contestants, he was able to witness all of these things.

Peter didn't have the heart to tell his teammates about their undeserved victory; they were far too excited to notice anything else.

For the first time in his short life, he saw Liz when she wasn't stressed out. Flash hoisted the trophy over his head and wouldn't let go. Peter believed Mr. Harrington couldn't get happier than what he usually was - he was wrong. No one deserved to have that taken away from them.

That being said, Peter had always wanted to visit a museum.

Well, he only learned of their existence last week, but it was almost always in comparison to his age.

"Hey," Ned whispered, tugging at his sleeve to pull him away from the group. "are you feeling any better?"

Peter shook his head slowly, clutching his stomach with his eyes shut tightly.

"Something's wrong, Ned."

His friend looked back at the team, sneaking away when he was certain they weren't watching them. Peter and Ned remained silent until they were out of earshot, stopping in a corner of the museum that was mostly unoccupied, except for another class of children far younger than themselves. They couldn't have been more than five years old, and were too focused on their teacher to eavesdrop on them.

"What is it?" he asked worriedly, holding him by the shoulders to keep him up straight.

Something had been tugging at him all morning - something he couldn't figure out - a tingling sensation in the back of his head that was starting to burn. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch. The more Peter tried to ignore it, the more pain it caused him. Whatever it was, it was different from his headache.

"Something's wrong." Peter repeated. "I don't know what it is, but something bad is going to happen."

Ned clearly didn't believe a word of what he was saying. In all honesty, Peter believed he was speaking complete nonsense as well.

"I'm going to get you some water." Ned gave him a weak smile, setting him down on a nearby bench. "With extra ice." he added. "It's been a while since you've had anything cold."

Peter watched Ned depart from him, feeling useless. He couldn't do anything now. Peter could have survived without his powers, but now he could barely stand without help from Ned.

He was dying; Peter was sure of it.

A loud clatter of books hitting the floor pulled him from his thoughts.

Peter looked up to see that one of the kids had been pushed over by the others, causing him to drop all of his belongings. He was noticeably smaller than the rest, bearing resemblance to a mouse with his unnaturally rosy cheeks and an incredibly small frame.

They all started laughing at the poor boy, knocking his glasses off of his face - messy brown hair falling into his eyes.

"Hey." Peter tried to get their attention, but his voice came out as a croak.

Legs shaking, Peter walked towards them, and they scattered once they saw him. Peter may have been weak, but he came off as massive from their perspective.

The boy said nothing, gathering his books together and picking up his glasses. It seemed as though he wasn't bothered in the slightest by the other kids picking on him.

Peter spotted something else on the ground and kneeled down. Reaching out, he was about to pick it up before the boy beat him to the punch. The object was a necklace of some sort, a small blue item attached to a piece of yarn. He threw it around his neck quickly, glaring at Peter.

"Sorry." Peter said, his pulse beginning to increase out of nowhere. He wasn't angry or stressed about anything, so what could it have been? "Are you all right?"

"Yes." the boy responded simply.

"I'm Peter, by the way."

He extended his hand, and they shook briefly. The boys tiny hands were freezing - or maybe Peter's were boiling - which caused them to let go almost immediately. Peter had been burning up for ages now.

"I'm Cain."

"Cain... was that the first time they did something like that?"

He shook his head slowly.

"I'm an easy target for them." Peter now realized that his words were stilted. Cain spoke with a maturity that most people four times his age didn't have. With a quick look at the books he read, Peter could tell how intelligent he was. "I skipped a few grades, so of course I'm smaller than them - even the girls."

"I skipped a few grades too." Cain looked up at him with his brown eyes widened in surprise. "And don't tell anyone this, but a lot of girls are taller than me."

"Really?"

"Yep." Peter smiled at his hopefulness. "Trust me; in a few years, they're going to wish they were shorter than you. You can save money on clothes, you'll hit your head a lot less, seats are way more comfortable, and you're less likely to get struck by lightning."

Cain let out a small laugh, and began to brighten up. He threw himself at Peter, almost knocking him over in the process as his short arms wrapped around him. Peter returned the gesture, ruffling his hair.

Whether it was Cain's newfound happiness or something else completely, Peter was starting to feel a bit better.

"Now, get back to your class." he said as he finally let go. "And please don't worry about the other kids. It's like my Aunt May says; if it's not going to matter in five years, don't worry about it for more than five seconds."

Cain picked up his books again, then ran around the corner, nearly bumping into Ned who was returning with a cup of water in one hand and a cup of ice cubs in the other.

"Who was that?" Ned asked with his brows furrowed, passing both cups off to Peter.

"I think I just made a new friend."

"I'm still your best friend, right?" Ned clutched his chest, putting on a face of fake worry.

"Always." he said, lifting the cup to his mouth.

As the ice touched Peter's lips, it instantly melted, and disappeared completely. He sighed contently, no longer feeling the pain in his legs. The colour briefly returned to his face, and for just a second, his vision was no longer blurry. How long it would sustain him, Peter did not know.

"You're looking better already." Ned looked over his shoulder nervously. "But the guys have been looking for you. Liz said she wants to talk."

It was like the very mention of them caused them to appear. Directly behind Ned stood Liz, Gwen, Flash, MJ, and the rest of the team. He couldn't tell if they had overheard any part of their conversation, or witnessed him absorbing the ice. Peter was praying they didn't know anything.

He found himself looking at MJ who was holding onto her bag tightly.

"Good, you're here." Liz said. "Peter, we're worried about... you..."

She stopped suddenly, holding up her hand as a way to tell everyone to remain silent. There was a very faint noise that kept growing - the sound of an object rolling on the ground, and getting closer by the second.

A small silver ball came from around the corner, tapping against Liz's foot, and coming to a stop.

She picked it up curiously, and the team gathered around her examining it closely.

"COVER YOUR EYES AND EARS!" MJ cried, snatching it out of her hand and throwing it as hard as she could.

The object exploded, a blinding white light coming from it. Abe, Sally, and Charles were all too slow, and fell over, crying in pain. They were the closest to the blast. All three were bleeding from the ears, and there was nothing Peter could have done to help them.

He stared, unable to move as their heads rested in a puddle of their own blood.

"No," Peter whispered repeatedly as he scanned his surroundings frantically in search of a first aid kit - a rag to stop the bleeding - anything that could be done to save them.

He tried, but felt MJ's hand on his shoulder, pulling him towards the nearby storage closet with the others.

MJ pulled out something from her bag that resembled a curtain, throwing it in front of the door right before she closed it.

From the outside, it appeared to be a part of the wall; concealing their escape, and for good measure, she'd broken off the door handle on both sides.

MJ held a finger to her lips, and she pressed an ear to the door.

***

How could she have been so sloppy?

Fury's instructions for the mission were simple: Do not be seen. _Failed._ Do not kill anyone. _No other choice now._ Do not let her classmates know of her absence. _Failed. _Get inside, recover as much information as she could from their servers, and get out. _Passed, but not over yet._

MJ had done it a hundred times in her life. It shouldn't have come to this.

Hydra had to be here for three things; Michelle, the files she stole, or Peter.

Maybe all of them.

Abe, Sally, and Charles - some the people she was closest to - were all hurt because of her. She didn't act fast enough. She didn't recognize the grenade fast enough. Because of her failure, they were put into this position.

MJ turned back to face her remaining friends, all terrified except for Peter. Of the six of them, he was the only one who understood what was going on.

Simultaneously, they opened their mouths to ask what was going on, giving away their location.

Fitz and Simmons' tech could fool the eyes, but not the ears.

She quickly held a finger to her lips, silencing them before pressing an ear to the door.

"Targets neutralized." a voice she immediately recognized as belonging to Brock Rumlow - formerly from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top strike team. "No sign of the files, or the asset."

"Take these three." Agent Ward said, and MJ gasped. "We can use them as leverage. Clean them up, and see what you can do for their ears. Hostages are worth more when they're in better condition."

The distinct sound of bodies being dragged across the floor echoed throughout the entire area. MJ looked down at her watch, scanning beyond the door for heat signatures. When they had all disappeared, she turned back to the group.

"I'll call for help." Ned thankfully pulled attention away from her and took out his phone, dialing 911. "Damn it! I don't have any service!"

The rest tried to dial as well, but the result was the same. Even MJ's S.H.I.E.L.D. phone wasn't getting a signal, and her watch was rendered useless as a communication device. Hydra had covered all the bases; they had walked right into a trap.

"Okay," MJ breathed out, trying to keep the others calm. "we need to find a way out of here." She pushed through the group, searching the shelves to find some sort of tool they could use or a means of escape. "Some of us could squeeze through that vent."

They all looked up at the ceiling were MJ was pointing.

"We're too big for that." Peter said, looking between himself, Ned, and Flash.

"As long as one of us can get help, we'll all be fine." MJ handed her bag over to Peter and nodded at him, then pulled off her jacket. "Ned, you're the tallest. You can give us a boost. Empty your pockets and take off any excess clothing you have. It's still going to be hard for us to get through."

Ned kneeled down and let MJ step on his shoulders. He raised up until she was able to tear down the vent, hitting the floor with a loud bang.

"Someone might have heard that." Flash said apprehensively, his voice shaking.

Ned extended his legs, and MJ was halfway up into the vent, coughing due to all the dust. She grabbed onto the edge, and pulled herself inside. They repeated this with Liz, Gwen, and Cindy, pulling each other up since they didn't have as much upper body strength as MJ did.

Her watch showed more heat signatures clumped together across the entire museum. Hydra must have taken everyone else hostage.

They weren't trying to bargain with police. They were too professional to draw attention from law enforcement. If there was one person they were going to use the hostages against, it was her.


	23. Chapter 23

So, this is easily one of my favourite things to write, but I'm not going to be able to finish it.

Not officially, at least.

As you may have heard, there's this little virus going around, and it's changed a few things. The thing that impacted me most was school. At the moment, I'm going through two subjects at a time in just under two months, and have quickly realized that I can't afford to focus on anything else.

What makes it even more important is that I'm heading to university next year, and it would be foolish of me to not put my maximum effort (credit to Deadpool) into my schoolwork.

I will have to do the same when I actually get to university.

I really don't want to stop writing because I enjoy it so much, but I feel like I'm making the right decision.

The thing is, I hate seeing fics that haven't been updated in years, and I don't want this to be one of them. I'd also feel pretty shitty with myself if I just left this for good.

For the few of you who actually read this thing, I'd like to give you one of two options.

I could either leave this for good, and leave the whole story to your imagination, or I could do one last chapter in which I give a brief summary of everything I was planning to do with this thing. Since I have a very clear idea of what I wanted this to be, this last hurrah would include bits and pieces of what I wanted to put in future chapters. It might even be better since I could avoid all the buildup to the things I actually wanted to write (which is the worst part of writing in my opinion.

The latter would be my preference, but it's completely up to you guys.

Anyways, that's all I have to say. Thank you to all of you who have been reading my stuff over the past however many months since January 30th, 2019, and I hope I haven't disappointed anyone by this decision.


End file.
